


The Planets Are Aligning

by ProjectWeAreOne (SansTheBee), SansTheBee



Series: The Mikey Verse [1]
Category: Milo Murphy's Law, Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension (2011)
Genre: Adoption, American Sign Language, Angst, Autistic Dakota, Dimension Travel, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Sign Language, autistic milo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-05-13 23:22:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 32,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14758241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SansTheBee/pseuds/ProjectWeAreOne, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SansTheBee/pseuds/SansTheBee
Summary: 2nd Dimension Milo Murphy lives in a walled off area of Danville to contain "The Curse". When he stumbles into the first dimension he learns how different things are and begins to heal, but Brick and Savannah are suspicious of him.





	1. Chapter 1

**The Planets Are Aligning**

  


**Author’s Note:**

_I just want to clarify here real quick that where Milo 2 lives in Danville in the Second Dimension version of Danville is different than the rest of the Doofenshmirtz 2 controlled Tri-State Area due to it being fenced off by the wall rather early in his ruling, making it a hodgepodge of the culture that remained pre ruling and some of the post ruling culture that seeped in. Doofenshmirtz 2 uses the area just to contain “The Curse” (Or as we know it as Extremely Hereditary Murphy’s Law)  and as long as it stays contained he has little to no interest in the blocked off section of Danville,it’s culture,it’s people, let alone it’s well being._

  


_Also I’m Autistic and have based most of Milo’s Autism traits off of my own, while Second Dimension Milo’s anxiety and depression are also mostly based off of my own mental illness (Anxiety, depression, and OCD.)_

  


_Also in case you’re interested here’s my website which doubles as my main tumblr blog too:  Projectweareone.tumblr.com_

  


_I started writing this before The Phineas and Ferb Crossover and it may or may not be finished and posted before it airs in August. So if there are any contradictions to the events in the crossover that’s why. And because of this story’s plot it will contradict canon regardless,_

  


_I hope you enjoy!_

  


**Chapter 1 The Rise of Four (Prologue)**

  
  


Only one section of the Tri-State area was not under the rule of Doofenshmirtz. A small section of Danville was barricaded off from the rest of the empire with steel walls and guarded by numerous Norm Bots.

  


Doofenshmirtz had locked up the only thing he feared could overthrow him. The Curse.

  


Although they had long lost track of the third person within in the Tri-State area to have the curse, Doofenshmirtz still knew he was out there, and was determined to keep him in there, away from his empire.

  


* * *

  


Martin frowned as he stroked his wife Brigette’s stomach gently.

  


“How could this have happened?” She sighed in distress.

  


“Sweetheart….”

  


“I can’t bring another child into this world knowing that … that cursed monster is out there!” She cried.

  


Martin cringed a bit, but quickly hid it. He put his arm around Brigette is comfort. “You had Sara and nothing bad happened to her.”

  


Brigette pushed him off of her. “I had to risk having her to keep the population up! This .. this one … We were so careful.” She rested her head in her hands. “We used protection.” Her breath became heavy as tears filled her eyes.

  


Martin rubbed the spot between her shoulder blades and kissed the top of her head. “Protection isn’t always guaranteed to work. Condoms are about Ninety Seven percent effective ..”

  


“What are the chances we were in that three percent!”

  


_A lot actually …._ Martin shook his head to get rid of the thought

  


“It’s all right, we’ll get through it.” Martin pulled Brigette into a tight hug. “I promise.”

  


Brigette sniffled. “I .. I’m not sure …”

  


“You should go lay down.” Martin said gently. “You need rest, sweetheart.”

  


“Will you join me?” She asked still sounding weak.

  


“I just need to finish up some blueprints for work then I can.” Martin said, trying to hide his anxiety

  


“All right dear. I love you.” Bridgette yawned.

  


“I love you too.” _Says the cursed monster._

  


* * *

  


“Oh, I can feel the baby kicking!” Brigette cooed. She grabbed Martin’s hand and lead it to her stomach. “Do you feel it?”

  


“Yeah, she’s really kicking in there.” Martin said, smiling.

  


“Sara, sweetie come here!” Brigette called.

  


The four year old waddled over and looked up with wide curious eyes. “Mama?”

  


“Feel mommy’s stomach.” Brigette said, leading her small hand to her stomach.

  


“Ooo, I can feel her!” Sara giggled excitedly.

  


It had started with Martin just casually referring to the fetus as a girl, even though there was no way to confirm this. It just happened to become a habit to his daughter and wife too to refer to them as their “daughter”, and “sister”.  It was more or less just wishful thinking on Martin’s part.

  


A crack formed on one of the nearby walls.

  


_Oh no .. Not now .. Not now …. Not now!_ Martin took calming breaths, attempting to make his heart stop thumping. _Cease … I am the one in control … I can control this .. I can control this … cease … cease … cease .. Cease!_

  


His head ached but the crack stopped, managing to not look too out of place on the wall. Martin relaxed. _Thank God …_

  


Sara and Brigette were still focused on the baby’s kicking, relaxing Martin more. _I overcame the worst of it. We’ll have a daughter. She’ll grow up happy and healthy, not having to worry about The Curse. We’ll be a happy family. The Curse will end with me._

  


* * *

  
  


Brigette and Martin dug out the wooden rickety crib they had made together before Sara was born. They had covered it in several layers of white paint, hoping to hide how ugly it was. They pushed it against the wall, a small handmade mobile with stars and a moon hanging above it.

  
“It’s perfect.” Brigette said, hugging onto Martin tightly.

  


“The best we can for our daughter. I’m glad you’re feeling better about having her.” He managed a small smile.

  


“Well, it was the same with Sara. Now that she’s so close to coming, I’m excited to welcome her to the world. The Curse won’t hurt her. Who knows, maybe Three is dead already.”

  


“Right…” Martin looked away nervously. “He might be .. dead. That curse is pretty strong.” He let out a dry laugh before being embraced by his wife again. He stroked her back gently while his heart ached. _Four isn’t coming. Four can’t come. We_ _ **are**_ _going to have a daughter and nothing will change that! The Curse will end with me._

  


* * *

  


Martin woke up one morning to Brigette groaning in pain.

  


“Brigette? Dear? What’s wrong?”

  


“T .. the baby .. the baby is c .. c .. she’s coming!” She groaned as she held on tightly to her stomach.

  


Martin got up quickly and went to get the supplies. Being cut off from the rest of The Tri-State area had a lot of downsides, including no hospital access at all. All births were home births. All of them. They’d gone through it with Sara, and now they would with their newest daughter. And the cycle would continue when they had kids of their own. Martin knew nothing would ever change that fact.

  


“Martin!” Brigette yelled. He rushed to her side and stroked her hair gently. “It hurts!”

  


“Mama? Daddy?”

  


They looked over to see daughter standing in the doorway, looking at them with wide,blue, innocent, worried eyes. “Is .. is mama okay?” She whimpered.

  


Martin went over and picked her up. “Mama’s okay. Mama’s okay …”

  


“But she’s crying!” Sara whined in response. “You don’t cry if you’re okay daddy!”

  


“Shh, it’s all right sweetheart.” He comforted. “Your little sister is coming.”

  


Sara’s eyes lit up. “My sister? My sister’s coming!?”

  


“Yes, but please be quiet. Mama needs quiet right now.”

  


Sara nodded.

  


Martin put her down. “Go back to bed, I’ll get wake you up when she’s born. Okay sweetie?”

  


“Okay daddy.” Sara said with a small smile.

  


Martin headed back to the bed, wiping the sweat off of Brigette’s forehead. “You’re doing good.” He gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

  


“I .. I love y .. you ..” She said through gritted teeth as she grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly.

  


“I love you too.” Martin stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “Now breathe …breathe ...”

  


A few hours had passed and Martin was still monitoring Brigette constantly.

  


“M .. M .. Martin …” She groaned out. “I .. I think there’s ...There’s something wrong…”

  


Martin furrowed his brows. “What?” He checked the mattress and saw a puddle of blood forming below.

  


_No, no … Cease .. Cease … Cease … Cease! I can control this! This curse doesn’t control me! Cease! Cease! Cease!_ _**Cease!** _ _Stop! Stop!  Stop! Stop! Please stop! Cease!_ _**Cease!** _

  


Brigette let out an ungodly howl as she gripped the bedsheet. “M..Martin!”

  


He stroked her face. “Shh, shh … Breathe …. Breathe … You’re almost there … You’re almost there …”

  


She screamed again in pure agony.

  


“You need to start pushing.”

  


Brigette nodded and started pushing.

  


“You’re doing good. Come on, breathe, breathe,breathe push, push push…”

  


Moments later the baby started to crown.

  


“I can see her! She’s coming, I can see her!” Martin said excitedly.  “Keep pushing.”

  


Brigette screamed out again in pain, but managed to birth the baby. “All right, keep pushing, we need to get the placenta out.”

  


“I .. I can’t.”

  


“W .. what do you mean you can’t?” Martin panicked.

  


“I .. it hurts .. It hurts so bad .. I .. I can’t do it..”

  


“Brigette come on please, you can do it!”

  


_Cease … Cease … Cease … Cease ..._

  


“I .. I c .. c ..can’t …”

  


“Brigette!”

  


“L .. let me hold her …”

  


“Brigette …”

  


_Cease …. Cease …_ _**Cease!** _

  


“Please!” She cried again.

  


Martin wrapped the newborn in a towel and gave them to Brigette.

  


“My baby … My beautiful baby …” She choked out as tears streamed down her face and a small smile formed on her lips. She was silent for a bit as she weakly examined the baby. “M .. my beautiful child …”

  


Martin smiled a bit. “She sure is.”

  


Brigette frowned slightly and shook her head.

  


He furrowed his brows. “What?”

  


Brigette closed her eyes.

  


“Brigette? Brigette!”

  


The baby whimpered and whined as they started to cry. Martin, breathing heavily, picked them up. _How could this have happened?_

  


The baby calmed down at his touch and managed to fall asleep. It was then Martin noticed.

  


Martin Murphy had a son.

  


* * *

  


“Daddy, Milo’s sad again.” Sara whined as the baby’s cries echoed through the hallways.

  


“Thanks honey.” Martin said as he patted her on the head gently. He headed to the bedroom where he had moved Milo’s crib and picked him up. He patted his back in comfort and snuggled him. “Shh it’s okay Milo, it’s okay.”

  


Milo’s whimpering died down. _Wait what’s wrong?_ He saw a bannister had a large crack it in. _He must have been startled by the cracking. I’ll have to fix that soon._

  


Martin carried him to the other room and sat down on the old, tattered couch, holding Milo close to his chest. Sara plopped down beside him and grabbed his arm, trying to get a good look at her baby brother.

  


Milo looked up at her with his big, brown, curious eyes, and let out a small squeal of glee. Sara smiled and waved. She put her hand out to him and let him grip her finger.

  


Sara giggled. “Look, he likes me daddy!”

  


Martin smiled gently. “Of course he does. You’re a great big sister.”

  


The couch started creaking and moaning. _No … Cease .. Cease … Cease … I am more than The Curse, I am in control … Cease .. Cease .. Cease … Cease!_

  


The couch broke under them. Sara was startled and hugged onto Martin while Milo whimpered in fear.

  


_Why didn’t it work?_

  


“D .. daddy?”

  


_Milo._

  


“Daddy, what happened to the couch?”

  


“N .. nothing sweetie, it’s just an old couch, it was going to break soon anyway...Why don’t we go out for a walk?”

  


“Okay!”

  


He held Milo in one of his arms and grabbed Sara’s hand with his free hand.

  


Outside was warm and sunny. Well as sunny as it could under a dense layer of industrial fog. Sara laughed excitedly as she skipped around, splashing in puddles from the rain earlier.

  


“Hey Mr Murphy, how are you doing?”

  


“Oh hello Mr Chase.” Martin looked at the man who also had a infant with him. A little girl with tufts of bright orange hair. “I .. I’m doing fine ... Thanks. How about you?”

  


“Better.” Mr Chase frowned. He looked down and made eye contact with Sara.

  


“Hi Sara.” He greeted warmly. Sara whimpered and grabbed onto her father’s leg as she hid behind him. “Still shy I see.”

  


“Yeah, but we’re working on it.” Martin stroked Sara’s hair in comfort.

  


Mr Chase saw the baby and smiled. “Oh, this must be Milo!”

  


Milo cooed as if responding to him.

  


“Yeah. This is him.”

  


“Hey little guy.” He cooed. “This is Melissa.” He held his daughter up to the baby’s eye level.

  


Melissa looked up at Martin curiously before her eyes landed on Milo. Her eyes lit up as she started babbled excitedly.

  


“Looks like they’re friends already.”

  


“ _Attention! Attention!”_

  


Martin, Mr Chase, and Sara all turned around to see Elliot Decker, the self proclaimed Safety Czar of the barricaded area, standing atop a pile of bricks, a megaphone in hand. “ _The Curse lives on! Four has been born!”_

  


“Elliot.” Mr Chase sighed in annoyance. “You need to stop this! There hasn’t been any incidents of The Curse recently. Three is probably already dead!”

  


Martin tightened his grip on Milo.

  


“ _The death of your wives in childbirth begs to differ!”_ He yelled through the megaphone, causing a screeching sound. Sara covered her ears and let out anxious whimpers at the noise.

  


“Noise .. N .. noise ..” She whimpered out softly.

  


Martin frowned and gently put his hand on her back. “It’s okay sweetheart.”

  


Mr Chase smacked the megaphone out of the safety czar’s hand. “No! They died because we don’t have access to a hospital you jackass! Don’t you _ever_ try to say it was because of The Curse, _ever!_ ”

  


Startled, Elliot took a step back and fell off the pile of bricks onto the ground.

  


Martin cringed. “I .. I got have to go …”

  


“Mr Murphy it’s okay. Don’t let that moron’s words get to you. He doesn’t know what they went through. They just ..”

  


“ I.. I just have to go .. It’s uh … It’s Sara’s nap time.”

  


“No it’s not daddy!” Sara whined, heer lip quivering in protest.

  


“Yes it is sweetie. Come on, let's go.” He grabbed her hand and hurried home. He looked down at Milo who had managed to fall asleep himself. _You won’t be Four as long as I am here._

  


* * *

  


“Daddy!” Four year old Milo giggled in excitement as he grabbed onto his dad’s leg.

  


“Hey kid!” Martin patted him on the head before pulling him into a hug.

  


“Can I play with Melissa today? Pleeeease daddy, pleeease?”

  


Martin thought for a moment. “I .. I’m not sure Milo ..”

  


“Pleeeease! We’ll stay away from the wall! We just want to play Norm Bots and Rebels!” Milo pleaded

  


Martin sighed, “All right.”

  


“Thanks daddy!” Milo started running towards the door until his dad grabbed him. “Huh?” He looked at him in confusion.

  


“Not so fast. We have to go through the rules first. You know what to do if you feel something bad is going to happen?”

  


Milo rolled his eyes but nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Think ‘Cs’ and ‘stop’. ‘The Curtsy doesn’t control me.’ “

  


“Curse.” Martin corrected. “And ‘Cease’.”

  


Milo was antsy to go play. “Okay daddy, I got it. Can I go now, please?”

  


“Just one more thing. What do you say if a tree branch breaks?”

  


“About time that branch fell!”

  


“A crack starts forming?”

  


“Oh wow! This place really is old, it’s breaking!”

  


“Pack of wolves?”

  


“Aaaah! Wolves!”

  


“Good.”

  


Milo went outside and met up with Melissa. “Hi Melissa!”

  


“Hey Milo!” Melissa greeted. She was dressed in all black like a rebel. “Ready?”

  


“Yeah!” Milo giggled. “Fear me rebel!” He said in a robotic voice.

  


Melissa giggled as she tackled him down playfully. The two wrestled, Melissa ending up on top. “Pinned ya!”

  


Milo giggled as he sat up and pushed her off. “You’re the best at this game!”

  


“Well I need practice. I want to be a rebel when I grow up … Or Queen of The Universe.”

  


“I want to be a robot!”

  


“You’ll be an amazing robot!” Melissa said, pulling him into a hug.

  


“And you’ll be the best Queen of The Universe ever!”

  


The two kept playing under the tree when one of the branches let out a screech.

  


“Look out!” Milo pushed Melissa out of the way, getting his legs scraped in the progress.

  


“Milo! Milo are you okay?” Melissa asked worriedly as she helped him up.

  


“I .. I’m fine …”

  


“How did you know the branch was gonna break.”

  


“Uh …. It’s … about time that branch .. fell?”

  


Melissa looked confused. “What?”

  


_Daddy said I have to keep this a secret, but Melissa’s my best friend. I can trust her then, right?_

  


Milo inched closer to her and cupped his hand around her ear. “It’s a secret. Do you promise not to tell?”

  


“I promise! Tell me! Tell me!” She said excitedly.

  


“Weird stuff happens to me and my dad.”

  


“Weird stuff? What kind of weird stuff?”

  


“You know when we sneaked over to the wall yesterday? And that Norm Bot **exploded**?”

“You did that?”

  


Milo nodded. “Daddy said we have a curtsy ...Wait no I meant a curse.”

  


Melissa’s eyes widened. “A curse? Oh that’s so cool!”

  


“You think it’s cool?”

  


Melissa nodded excitedly. “Yeah! You made a Norm Bot **explode**! Nothing’s cooler than that! Hey maybe you can be a rebel too when you’re older!”

  


“Maybe ..” Milo said, looking away and stimming with the bottom of his sweater vest. “But I still want to be a robot.”

  


“Well, you can be a robot rebel.”

  


Milo flapped his arms in excitement, a huge smile on his face. “Yeah! A robot rebel!”

  


“Melissa!”

  


“Oh! Papa’s calling me. See ya Milo!” She waved before running off.

  


“Bye Melissa!” Milo waved happily.

  


Melissa met up with her father and grabbed his hand. As they started home Melissa looked at some of the Norm Bots who were on guard duty around the barricaded area. “I don’t like Norm Bots, I wish I could make them explode like Milo can.”

  


“W .. what?” Mr Chase asked, clearly puzzled

  
  


“Oh you know how that Norm Bot exploded yesterday?”

  


“Y .. yeah?”

  


“Milo did that.”

 

 

“How?”

  


“Well…” Melissa paused. “He told me not to tell.”

  


“Please sweetheart, tell me.” Mr Chase pleaded gently

  


“But I promised Milo.” She whined.

  


“Some things shouldn’t be kept secrets, and this is one of them.” Mr Chase explained

  


“Hmmm … Okay.” Melissa sighed. “Well … Milo said he had a curse, and he ..”

  


Mr Chase stopped mid step. “Wait … A .. a curse?”

  


Melissa nodded. “Yeah, he and his dad both do.”

  


Mr Chase was frozen.

  


“Papa?”

  


“Go home Melissa, I … I need to do ... something.”

  


“B .. but papa ..” Melissa whined.

  


“Just go home and lock the doors okay?” He started to sound panicked.

  


Melissa pouted a bit, but ultimately gave up and headed home.

  


_Maybe that jackass actually was right ……_

  
  


* * *

  


Martin sat on the steps of the house with Milo and Sara sitting on either side of  him. He was going over multiplication facts with Sara and spelling with Milo. Occasionally he’d look up and ask Milo to spell simple words before going back to math lessons.

  


A small light yellow stray puppy with ruffled, dirty, mangled fur walked past.  He stopped to sit down and scratch behind his ear with his foot.

  


“Oh! Milo can you spell ‘dog’ for me?” Martin asked gently

  


“D .. O .. G” Milo spelled out.

  


“Good job Milo!”  Martin said proudly.

  


The puppy wandered off.

  


“Where is he going?” Milo asked, puzzled.

  


“H .. O .. M .. E.” Martin spelled.

  


“Oooh, D .. O .. G go home!” Milo giggled as he flapped his arms in excitement.

  


Martin smiled before turning his attention back to his daughter and her math lessons. Milo however was still curious about the puppy and decided to follow him while his dad wasn’t paying attention.

  


“D..O..G!” Milo giggled.

  


The puppy barked playfully and ran up to him. Milo leaned down to pet him when he noticed a shadow looming over him. He looked up curiously. “Oh hello Elliot!”

  


“Hello .. Four.”

  


Milo blinked in confusion. “Four?”

  


Elliot lifted his cut off metal stop sign and turned it around. On the other side the word **Four** was painted on recently, in fact it was barely even dry yet. He swung it and hit Milo on the side of his head, and skid it down his cheek.. Milo winced in pain as he grabbed the side of his face. He shakily held his hand out and saw blood on his hand.

  


Tears welled in his eyes as he backed up nervously.

  


“You cursed freak! You’re nothing but a menace! You’re the reason we’re secluded! That wall exists because of you!” Elliot smacked him again.

  


“P .. p .. p .. please s …. S .. st .. st ..stop!” Milo cried.

  


Elliot didn’t let up, and continued to whack him mercilessly. That is until someone grabbed his arm tightly. Elliot looked over in confusion and was met by a punch to the face.

  


“Daddy!” Milo cried.

  


“Three!” Elliot snarled, aiming his sign towards him. Martin dodged and pushed him away.

  


“Milo! Go home! Now!” Martin yelled.

  


Milo was frozen in fear, all he could do was watch his dad fight off the safety czar as tears streamed down his stinging, bloody cheek.

  


“Milo! Run!” Martin repeated, pushing Elliot back with both hands now.

  


“I..I c..c..can’t! I..I’m...I’m s..s..sc..cared!” He whined.

  


“Milo!” He’d never heard his dad this angry before. Elliot tried to whack Milo again, but Martin got him in a headlock. “Now!”

  


Milo forced himself to run back to the house. Once he has there he sat on the front steps and sobbed into his hands. Feeling something wet on his cheek he looked up, sniffling. The puppy from earlier was licking his injuries.

  


“D...D..O..G….Diogee…” Milo pulled him into a hug. Diogee barked joyfully and licked the blood off his cheek. Milo giggled and managed to ignore his pain until his dad came limping back to the house.

  


“Daddy!” Milo rushed over and hugged his legs. He sniffled as he rubbed his face into his jeans, getting some blood splatter on the denim.

  


“It’s okay Milo..It’s okay..” He soothed, picking him up and kissing his bruises.

  


“W..Why d..did he h..hurt m..me?” Milo asked anxiously.

  


“He found out about The Curse somehow Milo.” He sighed. “Now more than anything we have to keep you safe.” He carried him inside and sat him down on the couch. Martin came back with a wet, soapy towel and started washing his injuries.

  


“Daddy, what happened!?” Sara gasped.

  


Martin was about to reassure her everything was all right and that he just had an accident out back but he stopped himself. _She needs the truth._ “Sara, you’ve heard of ‘The Curse’ right?”

  


She nodded. “Yes daddy. It’s really bad.”

  


Martin sighed. “Sweetheart...We’re the cursed ones..Milo and I.”

  


Sara blinked. “But..but you’re not monsters! Everyone said the cursed one was a monster! You’re n..not a monster, are you daddy?”

  


Martin frowned. “No of course not! I..I never want to hurt anyone sweetheart. I can’t control it..neither can Milo.”

  


Sara was silent for a moment. “I still love you daddy. I love you and Milo. You aren’t monsters, no matter what anyone else says!”

  


Martin smiled and pulled his daughter into a tight hug. He turned towards Milo who was whimpering loudly and frowned again before pulling away from Sara.  “...Elliot found out about The Curse and hurt Milo.”

  


Sara’s eyes widened. “But why? Milo’s the best brother in the whole world! He’s not a monster either!”

  


Martin dabbed Milo’s cheek some more. “People don’t like The Curse sweetheart, and they’re mad we lied about it.”

  


“How did they find out?”

  


“I..I don’t know.” He turned too look at his son. “Milo. You didn’t tell anyone did you?”

  


Milo didn’t respond.

  


“Milo.” His father repeated a bit more sternly. “You didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

  


Milo looked away nervously and murmured something under his breath inaudibly.

  


“Milo, what did you say?”

  


“I..I told..I told Melissa..”

  


“Milo!” Martin scolded. “Why would you tell her!? I told you we had to keep The Curse a secret!”

Milo flinched. “I..I’m s..sorry daddy. B..but the tree...the tree b..branch fell and..and Melissa was ...was wondering why it..why it..f..fell.”

  


“We had an excuse for that remember!?”

  


“But she’s my best friend and..and I..I thought she..I thought I..that I..that i could trust her.”

  


Martin sat down and sighed angrily. “Milo.”

  


“Do you hate me?” Milo asked in a small voice.

  


“No, of course not.” Martin said, pulling him close. “I’m just..frustrated right now. And worried.”

  


He hugged Milo close. “Right now we need to focus on keeping you safe.”

  


* * *

  


Milo sat on the steps of his house with Diogee. He picked up a stick and threw it. “Fetch Diogee!”

  


The puppy barked and ran after it. He returned it and was rewarded with a pat on the head. Milo looked up and saw Melissa passing by with another kid, Bradley Nicholson. “Hey Melissa! want to play!?”

  


Melissa and Bradley stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Milo blankly.

  


“Oh uh..hey Milo. I uh..well actually my dad said we can’t play together anymore.” Melissa said, not making eye contact.

  


“Wh..what?” Milo asked, hurt.

  


“You heard her, you cursed freak!” Bradley yelled.

  


Milo hugged his knees to his chest. “I..I’m not a freak....”

  


“Yes you are!” Bradley protested. “You’re why the wall is up,Four!”

  


Milo started crying. The door opened and Martin stepped out, scooping Milo into his arms. He scowled at Bradley and Melissa and the two ran off. Martin wiped away his tears with his shirt. “Shh it’s okay. It’s okay.”

  


“He..he called me a freak!” Milo whined.

  


“You’re not a freak Milo.” He frowned.

  


“And he called me F..Four....”

  


Martin tightened his grip. “You’re not Four, you’re Milo. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

  


Milo sniffled. “O..okay daddy.”

  


Martin carried him inside, where it was safe.

  


* * *

  


The teenage years were the most common to rebel against your parents no matter where or when you grew up, it was just a universal thing. Thirteen year old Milo was no exception. He creaked the window open and climbed out, as silent as The Curse would allow.

  


He was making his way to the abandoned office complex at an old, also abandoned strip mall he liked to hang out in, when he bumped into someone. “I’m so sorry! I......” He paused when he realized he didn’t recognize who he’d ran into. “Oh h..hi..I..I’m M..M..Milo.”

  


“I’m Zack.”

  


Milo looked away nervously. “N..nice to m..meet you.” He stimmed nervously with his tattered sweater vest. “We don’t..I..I mean..n..not a lot of people m..move here.”

  


“Oh,well, uh yeah, my mom’s a doctor. She heard about the lack of medical care here and volunteered to help out.”

  


“O..oh.” Milo swallowed, thinking of what he’d heard about his mother and Melissa’s mother. “Th..that’s great!”

  


“Yeah…”

  


There was an awkward silence for a moment until a group of kids, including Bradley were passing by. They stopped suddenly when they spotted Milo, and grouped together as if to protect each other.

  


Zack looked confused at their behavior and looked at Milo. “What’s that all about?”

  


“O..oh r..right you’re..you’re new here, I um..I’ve got a bit of a..a..r..reputation..”

  


Zack smirked a bit in amusement. “So what are you, a tough guy?” He teased.

  


Milo’s cheeks beat red in embarrassment. “Oh I uh..I..n..no..” He gripped the bottom of his sweater vest, “I..I don’t think th..that’s the r..right word for..for it.” _I don’t think anyone’s ever called me tough before….._

  


Zack frowned and put his hand on his shoulder in comfort. “Are you okay?”

  


The kids gasped and seemed to be begging Zack not to make contact with Milo. “No, no, no..” One of them whispered anxiously.

  


“So what exactly is this reputation?” Zack asked, still curious.

  


“W..well...I uh...p..people have used the..the ‘C word’ but…I...I uh...I..” He still refused to make eye contact.

  


“The C word? You mean cu..”

  


“N..no! N..not that one..” He mumbled back in embarrassment.

  


“Cute?”

  


Milo whined more. _No one’s ever called me that before either. I doubt I’m cute by any standard._ He mentally stroked the scar on the side of his face.

  


“Hey, you probably want to stand back.” Suggested a voice that made Milo’s stomach tie into knots. He looked up to see Melissa standing there with a slight frown and her eyes narrowed in a vicious squint.

  


“All right, seriously dude, what’s going on here?” Zack asked.

  


“W..what?”

  


“I mean what is all of this!” Zack said motioning at the group of kids and Melissa. “And what's the ‘C word’ if it’s not what I think it is!?”

  


“Cursed!” Bradley chimed in. “He’s cursed!”

  


“Cursed?”

  


“Yep, Four here carries The Curse, and it’s always causing problems.” Melissa said, rolling her eyes as she stepped towards Zack. She grabbed him by the shoulders and lead him over to the other group. “It’s best if you stay away from him.”

  


“I..I’m not F..Four I’m Mi..” Before he could finish, an orange bungee flung in front of the group.

  


Zack picked it up in confusion. “Huh. It’s one of those heavy duty bungees they use to tie things down in construction sites.”

  


“Uh oh.” Milo gulped

  


A giant construction cylinder rolled towards Milo He yelped as he started running to get away from it.

  


Zack looked at Melissa in shock. “Thanks. I don’t even want to know what I almost got myself caught up in.”

  
  
  


 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 A Whole New World**

  
  


_In The First Dimension_

  
  


Cavendish sighed as he anxiously paced around the office. “Where is he? Dakota should have been back ages ago! Oooh, I knew I should have gone with to assist him!”

  
  


There was a jingling in the lock as a key was turned and the door opened. Dakota stood in the doorway with a large cardboard box in his arms.

  
  


“There you are!” Cavendish said in relief. “What took you so long?”

  
  


“Hey, I had to wait till Brick and Savanah were on lunch break to snatch these.” Dakota explained as he set the box on the table.

  
  


Cavendish examined it’s contents for a moment. “Perfect! These will aide well in our mission.”

  
  


“You’re welcome. But I’m surprised you’re the one who suggested this. You know, ransacking Brick and Savannah’s gear?”

  
  


“Well the supplies Mr Block provided us aren’t going to help much.” Cavendish said as he gestured to a box full of futuristic plungers. “He won’t give us any gear that won’t help us clean medieval toilets.”

  
  


There was a knock at the door. “Now who could that be?” Cavendish asked in confusion.

  
  


“It’s probably the landlord Mr Phillips again.” Dakota sighed in annoyance.

  
  


“Oh dear, Mr Block still hasn’t sent in our rent money?” Cavendish asked, agasht.

  
  


“When has he ever?” Dakota shrugged, then he reached into the box and pulled out a baseball bat. “I’ll handle this.”

  
  


“Dakota…” Cavendish warned.

  
  


“Don’t worry I won’t hurt him...much…”

  
  


Dakota opened the door, the bat lifted above his head.

  
  


“Hey Dakota!” Milo greeted with a small wave.

  
  


“Milo!” Dakota put the bat down. “Come in!

“Hello Murphy.” Cavendish greeted with a small nod. “Are you ready?”

  
  


“Yeah!” Milo said, smiling just as wide as he usual did. “So what are we doing exactly?”

  
  


“A pistachio farm has just opened on the other side of town.” Cavendish explained, straight to the point as usual. “Mr Block will no doubt assign Brick and Savannah to protect it, so we must act fast and destroy it before they can arrive.”

  
  


“No problem.” Milo said slyly. “We can really use Murphy’s Law to our advantage there.”

  
  


“Yeah kid!” Dakota laughed as he rustled Milo’s hair. Milo giggled happily in response.

  
  


Cavendish reached into the box and took out the tools they’d need for the job. As they headed out, Milo bumped the box sending it falling to the ground and spilling its contents.

  
  


“Oops, my bad.” Milo knelt down and started putting the things back in the box.

  
  


“Hey Milo, you coming!?” Dakota called.

  
  


“Yeah, just hold on a second!” Milo called back, quickly putting the rest of the things back into the box. He didn’t notice his thumb touched a button on top of a blue sphere. He put the box back and hurried out after Dakota and Cavendish.

  
  


The sphere started glowing and opened up a blue portal.

  
  


_In The Second Dimension_

  
  


Having narrowly avoided the construction cylinder, and covered in mud from the escapade, Milo started to head home. He knew his dad would be mad he snuck off, but he needed his comfort right more than anything.

  
  


On the way back he saw the abandoned office complex on top of the strip mall and paused. _Maybe I can atleast get cleaned up before I have to face dad again. Then I won’t have to explain the cylinder incident at least._ He went over to the last office which he liked to hang out in the most.

  
  


Out of all of them they were really the only ones that had signs that there were once people living there. Sometimes Milo would just sit for hours imaging what the former occupants were like. So far he’d pieced together that they liked pistachios due to the amount of shells that littered the ground.

  
  


There was one two person bed that was unmade, two pillows stacked on top it. Milo liked to snuggle under the covers and nap there during especially rough days where he just wanted to me away from home. Days he’d rather not get yelled out for sneaking out or just when he was very stressed out and done with the world.

  
  


Milo was expecting to see these things when he stepped into the office, but not a giant blue circle of light.

  
  


Milo stood in the door anxiously, just staring at the orb. _What is_ _ **that**_ _thing!?_

  
  


Wind whipped around inside, sucking in a few pistachio shells and loose papers that were scattered around.

  
  


Milo felt drawn to it. It was scary, but fascinating. _I mean it always seems like anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. What’s the worse this thing could do?_

  
  


Milo nervously took a step closer to it. However with his next step The Curse struck. He tripped and fell into the portal. With that the portal closed, leaving the office more dishelved, and empty, than before.

  
  
  


 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 New in Town**

 

Milo 2 groaned as he sat up and opened his eyes. He rubbed his head and looked around with blurred vision. When he could see clearly again he relaxed as he noticed he was in the abandoned office complex.

 

He staggered up, grabbing onto the desk for support. “That was..weird…” He looked around again and frowned.  _ Why are the lights on? I thought the power was cut  _ **_ages_ ** _ ago.  _ His heart pounded anxiously.  _ Maybe I should just head home… _

 

Milo 2 opened the door and went outside, expecting a mouthful of the usual tainted, foggy air. However to his surprise it was fresh, and clean.  _ Okay this is getting weird...How long was I out? _

 

On his way out he passed the other doors. One fell off its hinges, and another’s knob fell off and rolled away.

 

_ Ugh, not now Curse! Cease! Go away! The Curse does not control me..The Curse does not control me!  Cease! Cease! _

 

Milo 2 started heading home when he heard a friendly bark. He looked over to see Diogee running over to him excitedly as his tail wagged wildly. Milo 2 smiled and leaned down to pet him. “Hey Diogee. Good boy.” He paused mid pet. “Wait, did dad give you a bath or something?”

 

Diogee whimpered at the word ‘bath’.

 

Milo 2 frowned more. “And your scars..” he brushed his hands through Diogee’s fur to examine his skin. “They’re gone!”

 

Diogee whined worriedly and gave him another lick on the face. Milo 2 giggled. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t question it. I should just be happy, you know? You should go home before The Curse ruins this for you.” He sighed.

 

Diogee sat down and cocked his head to the side in confusion.

 

“Diogee go home.” Milo 2 tried. With that the dog walked off. 

 

Milo got up and kept walking. No longer distracted by the dog he got a better look around  the town.  _ W..wait wh..where’s the w..wall!? Is..is it g..gone? Ugh! What’s going on!? I need to get home, now! Maybe dad or Sara can tell me what the heck’s going on!? _

 

As Milo 2 passed by the bus stop he saw The Safety Czar Elliot Decker standing his post. He looked from side to side, holding his stop sign tightly in his hand. 

 

_ No no no no no! No no no no no not now! _

 

Milo stroked the scar on his cheek and winced from the memory. _ Maybe I should go a different way. _

 

As he started to turn around he heard a booming voice, “Not so fast  _ Milo _ !”

 

Milo froze in panic.  _ Wait did he just call me by my name and not by Four? Does he not want to hurt me? Or is he going to? Is he just tricking me? I can’t tell!  _

 

Elliot walked in front of him and glared down. He turned his sign around so it read “Milo” in bold, white letters. 

 

Milo 2’s breath hitched as he looked up with fear ridden eyes. “I..Pl..please don’t hurt me!” He cried forcing himself to take a step back.

 

Elliot frowned and took a step towards him. “What are you talking about?”

 

Milo 2  whined and raised his shaky hand to point at the sign and then his scars. “D..don’t…”

 

Elliot raised an eyebrow. “Listen, while  you _ are _ a danger to everyone due to the whole ‘Murphy’s Law’ thing.....”

 

_ Murphy’s Law? _

 

“.....But it would be against my Safety Czar duties to hurt you.”

 

“Y..you tried to k..kill me!”

 

“No. I’m pretty sure I didn’t.”

 

“Yes you did!” Milo 2 was breathing heavily. “When I was four! Y..You..you tried to bash my skull in with your s..stop sign!”

 

“It’s plastic.” Elliot tapped his fist against it. “See?”

 

Milo 2 was still terrified and shaking heavily.

 

For once Elliot seemed worried. “Maybe you should just head home Murphy.” He gently put his hand on his back to urge him forward, but as soon as his hand made contact, Milo 2 screamed  loudly.

 

He ran off, his breath heavy. Once he felt like he was far enough away he sat down on the sidewalk and sobbed loudly into his hands. 

 

Moments later he felt himself pulled into a gentle hug, with someone drawing soothing circles on his back their hands. The touch was comforting for Milo 2, enough that he didn’t push away from it. “D..dad?”

 

This was met with a small, dry,  _ feminine _ laugh. “Not even close.”

 

Milo 2’s chest tightened and his stomach churned as he pushed away to get a good look. “M..Melissa?”

 

“You okay Milo?” She asked with a frown, putting her hand out and stroking his cheek gently, her fingertips tracing over his stop sign scar.

 

Milo 2 shivered and pulled back slightly. “I..I...” 

 

Melissa looked past him and waved someone over. “Hey, Zack, over here!”

 

“Z..Zack?” Milo 2 asked weakly.

 

“I’m here.” Zack said as he sat beside him and pulled him into a tight hug. “It’s okay.” He comforted as he patted his back gently. 

 

Milo 2 was too confused and anxious to relax so he just sat there stiffly in his arms. “What’s wrong? Are you having sensory issues? An anxiety attack?”

 

“I uh..I..y..ye..y..n..n..N..no!” Milo 2 whined.

 

“What’s wrong?” Melissa asked gently.

 

“El..Elliot.” He sniffled.

 

Melissa and Zack both rolled their eyes.

 

“Don’t worry about what he says Milo.” Melissa said.

 

“B..but..I…You..H..he..” Mikey just broke out into more anxious whimpers.

 

“You want to go home?” Zack suggested.

 

Milo 2 sniffled and nodded. Zack and Melissa helped him up and grabbed his hands. His palms sweat heavily as they lead him home.  _ What if they’re not taking me home? What if they’re going to hurt me? What if they’re taking me  _ **_back_ ** _ to Elliot!  What if they.. _

 

“Here we are.” Melissa said. The three had stopped in front of The Murphy’s house.

 

Milo 2 blinked.  _ What if they’re actually taking me home? _

 

“Do you want us to stay with you?” Melissa asked.

 

“N..no!” Milo 2 yelped. Before they could reply he ran up the stairs and slammed the door shut. 

 

“Hey Milo!”

 

“S..Sara.” He sighed in relief. He went over to his sister and hugged her tightly. 

 

“Rough day?” Sara asked, returning the hug.

 

“Mhm.” He sniffled, press his face into her stomach.

 

Sara stroked his hair gently. “Shh it’s okay, it’s okay…”

 

Milo 2 looked up and sniffled slightly.  _ What’s that on her shirt? Is that an...ape with a clock for a head? _

 

Deciding this wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen, he didn’t question it and asked, “Is..is dad home?”

 

“Yeah he’s in the backyard.” Sara said.

 

“Th..thank you.” Milo 2 pulled away and headed out back. “D..dad?”

 

“Hey Milo!” His dad greeted with a wave. He frowned when he noticed his son’s expression and came over. “Are you okay?”

 

“N..No!” Milo 2 cried as he latched onto his dad and sobbed.

 

“What happened?” He asked gently.

 

“I..I..I...I..I...I h..hate The Curse!” He sobbed loudly into him.

 

“The Curse?” Martin sounded hurt and loosened his grip slightly. Milo 2 only pushed himself closer to him and sniffled loudly.

 

“Th..The Curse! I..I hate it! I..I’m just a menace! A monster! I..I’m not Milo! I’m just Fo..”

 

Martin leaned down and grabbed Milo’s shoulders tightly, and looked at him dead in the eyes. Milo looked away. “Milo, look at me.” He said, dead serious. Milo 2 whined. “Milo.”

 

Milo 2’s eyes darted back to his dads’.

 

“You are not a menace, you are not a monster. You’re Milo. You’re the kindest,most optimistic person I know.” He stroked his cheek with the back of his hand. “You’re my son and I love you. No one thinks of you like that, and I don’t want you to think of yourself, or Murphy’s Law, that way. It’s part of your life and I..I honestly was worried one day you’d feel like this. But I’m here for you, Melissa’s here, Zack’s here, Sara’s here,  your mom’s here, and we all love you, Murphy’s Law and all.”

 

Milo 2 was stuck on one word. “M..mom?”

 

“Yes, your mom loves you very much.”

 

“B..but my mom. I..I don’t..But she…she..she’s d....”

 

“You want to talk to her?” Martin asked gently.

 

“I...I uh...Y..yeah.”

 

Martin scooped Milo 2 into his arms and took him to the kitchen where Brigette was working on blueprints for a building, a warm cup of coffee nearby. She looked up from her work and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Hard day with Murphy’s Law.” Martin explained as he handed Milo 2 over to her. 

 

_ There’s that word again. What’s Murphy’s Law!? From what “dad” said, I think it’s The Curse. But why are they calling it Murphy’s Law instead? Why is my mom alive? Why didn’t Elliot hurt me? Why didn’t Zack and Melissa ignore me? Why didn’t Diogee have his scars? Why were the lights on in the office? _

 

Milo 2’s thoughts were interrupted when his mom held him close to her chest and squeezed him comfortingly. “Shh it’s okay sweetheart.” She ran her fingers through his hair and scalp. It felt good and Milo 2 squeezed his eyes shut as he laid his head on her chest. “You’re extraordinary Milo.”  

 

Even her voice felt good. Milo 2 allowed himself to relax for once and drift off. He was startled awake when his arm hit a the coffee mug, spilling it all over the blueprints.

 

“Crap!” Brigette yelled. 

 

“I..I..I’m..I’m s..sorry!” Milo 2 whined, sitting up suddenly and panicking. “I’m sorry m..m..mom, I..I didn’t mean to! I just.....I...”

 

“Shh it’s okay Milo.” She soothed. “It’s not your fault.”

 

“But The Cur......I..I mean,Murphy’s Law.” Milo 2 whined.

 

“Again it’s not your fault.” Bridgette reassured as she patted him on the back.

 

“But..but.. I..I.. have it and if..if I..I wasn’t here then I w..wouldn’t have......” Milo 2 sniffled.

 

“If you weren’t here I wouldn’t get to do this.” Brigette replied, holding him closer and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “And that’s worth anything Murphy’s Law throws at us.”

 

Milo 2 smiled a bit for the first time in a while. “Th..thanks, m..mom.”  _ She’s so nice! I don’t know how or  _ **_why_ ** _ she’s here, but I’m sure glad she is. _

 

Brigette set Milo 2 down and went to get a towel to dry off the blueprint the best she could.

 

Milo 2 wanted to hold onto this feeling of love more than anything. He wanted to curl up and dream about it. Not in his bed (if it even was his bed now), but in his safe zone, the office complex.  _ Maybe they turned the power back on? Maybe it was an accident?  _ He felt too loved to worry about the implications at the moment. “Hey m..mom, I’m..I’m g..going for a..for a walk.”

 

“Are you sure dear? Are you feeling better?” Bridgette asked worriedly, knowing he had been anxious earlier.

 

“I feel great!” Milo 2 replied.

 

Brigette smiled. “Good to hear, dear! Have fun.”

 

Milo 2 skipped all the way to the office complex, not noticing any Murphy’s Law incidents that were caused on the way to the strip mall. It was only when he opened the door to the office the feeling faded. He stood in the doorway as he made eye contact with himself.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 Paradoxical Problems**

 

“Oh this can’t be good.” Dakota said.

 

“Is that….me?” Milo asked, confused.

 

“I’ll handle this.” Cavendish said, stepping towards Milo 2. 

 

Milo 2 stepped back nervously. “I..I’m sorry I...I...I didn’t know anyone w..was..was here..I..I..”

 

“Milo it’s all right.” Cavendish said.

 

Milo 2 blinked in confusion and sniffled.

 

“Milo.” Cavendish tried gently and a bit worried.

 

“H..how do you know my name?” He whimpered out.

 

“Oh dear.” Cavendish was even more worried. “You don’t recognize me do you?”

 

Milo 2 shook his head. “Sorry I..I don’t.”

 

Dakota walked over and leaned on the door frame. “Hey kid, where did you come from?”

 

“D .. D .. D .. Da .. Danville?”

 

“That’s where we are right now.” Dakota pointed out. “I guess there’s got to be other places called Danville somewhere though, right?”   
  


Cavendish rolled his eyes. “Dakota, he’s obviously a past Milo who ended up here by mistake! We need to return him.” He turned towards Milo 2. “What date are you from?”

 

He let out a small squeak in reply.

 

Cavendish frowned. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

 

“Hey maybe he’s from when we were trying to kill him.” Dakota suggested. This caused Milo 2 to squeak more and back up.

 

“Dakota!” Cavendish scolded.

 

“What? It would explain why he’s scared of you.” Dakota shrugged.

 

“But I was never scared of you.” Milo pointed out. “I didn’t even know you thought I was a threat before you told me.” 

 

“D..don’t h..hurt me p..please!” Milo 2 begged.

 

“Maybe it’s before he met us then.” Dakota said. “He’s probably scared because you’re a stranger.”

 

“Good point Dakota.” Cavendish said. “We’ll need Murphy’s help in pinpointing where he’s from.” He grabbed Milo 2’s arm and dragged him inside. He whined as Cavendish pulled him inside and had him sit on the bed next to Milo.

 

Milo 2 whined and looked away.

 

“Hey it’s okay.” Milo reassured. “We just need to find out where you’re from.”

 

“O..okay.” Milo 2 still didn’t look him over.

 

“So I’m assuming you didn’t  stop a group of sentient nut people from taking over the world, right?” Milo tried, just to be certain he hadn’t met Cavendish or Dakota yet. 

 

Milo 2 blinked. “Wh .. what?”

 

“I thought so. I guess I have to try a little farther back. Do you remember the uh … Acadecamathalon?” Milo asked.

 

Milo 2 stared at him blankly.

 

“Okay, I guess not. Let's see …. do you remember meeting Zack?” Milo tried next.

 

Milo 2 froze for a moment. “Y .. yeah.” He played nervously with his hands. 

 

“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” Milo said with a smile.

 

“He … He doesn’t like me.” Milo 2 whimpered out.

 

Milo frowned. “Wh .. what?”

 

“He doesn’t like me.” Milo 2 whined. “The .. The C .. Curse … it … it ...”

 

“The Curse?” Milo asked, wide eyed.

 

Milo 2 whined and hugged his knees his chest. He looked very uncomfortable.

 

“Cavendish!” Milo called worriedly. “Dakota!”

 

Cavendish and Dakota came over. “Did you figure out when he came from?”

 

“I .. I don’t think he’s from any time.” Milo said, frowning.

 

“What do you mean?” Cavendish asked.

 

“Well, he’s calling Murphy’s Law, “The Curse” first of all.” He sounded as worried as Cavendish now.

 

“M .. Murphy’s Law. Everyone keeps bringing that up. W..what is it?” Milo 2 whined.

 

“It means ‘Anything that can go wrong will go wrong … around m ..... well, us.’” Milo explained.

 

“That sounds just like The Curse.” Milo 2 whined into his knees.

 

“It’s not a curse.” Milo said, gently putting his hand on his back. When Milo 2 whimpered at the touch he pulled away. “I’m sorry.”

 

Milo reached into his backpack and pulled out a fidget spinner and handed it to him. “Here, I play with this when I’m having sensory issues.”

 

“S .... Sensory issues?” Milo 2 asked in confusion

 

“Oh it’s when certain stimuli cause you to panic or feel uncomfortable or anxious. It’s common with people with Autism. Like me! Well, like us!”

 

“I have Autism too.” Dakota said. “That’s why I wear these glasses, light hurts my eyes.”

 

“O .. oh.” Milo 2 said. He looked at Cavendish. “Do..do you have..Au..Autism?”

 

“No, but I strive to be a good ally by showing acceptance and treating them as people.” Cavendish explained.

 

“They are people.” Milo 2 pointed out.

 

“I know, but I can’t **_speaks_** for some **_Autism_** ‘supporters’ who think otherwise.” Cavendish sighed in annoyance, rolling his eyes.

 

“Oh ..” Milo 2 spun the fidget spinner and smiled. “I like this…” He said softly. 

 

“You can have it then, I have a lot of them!” Milo said happily

 

“Th..thank you ….” Milo 2 said softly.

 

“You’re welcome!” Milo smiled widely

 

Cavendish sighed as he paced around the office. “I don’t get it! Where could this Milo have come from!?”

 

“Uh, I think I found the answer.” Dakota said. Cavendish looked over to see him holding a busted blue orb.

 

“You stole an Interdimensional Orb from Brick and Savannah!?” Cavendish yelled.

 

“Well yeah. I mean it’s right there so  _ obviously _ I stole it or it wouldn’t be here.” Dakota replied.

 

“Dakota ...” Cavendish sighed, gripping his temple.

 

“I just grabbed a bunch of random stuff okay!? I didn’t check what I took!” Dakota protested.

 

“Well you should have! Interdimensional Orbs are highly dangerous, and  _ illegal  _ if you don’t have the proper license! If Mr Block finds out we’ll get kicked out the agency  _ and  _ be imprisoned!” Cavendish huffed out.

 

“Well, then we won’t tell him. We’ll fix it and send this Milo back before he finds out.” Dakota suggested

 

Milo 2 clutched his knees tighter and whined. He spun the fidget spinner faster

 

“And I suppose by ‘we’ll fix it’, you mean me, right?” Cavendish asked, unamused.

 

“Right. I mean isn’t the inside of the orb like the inside of a piano or something? You’re more qualified to fix it than me.” Dakota justified. 

 

“That is true.” Cavendish sighed. He looked over at Milo 2. “I’d hate to keep him cooped up in here, but we can’t risk anyone knowing about this.”

 

“We could disguise him.” Dakota suggested.

 

“Yes, but he still has Murphy’s Law.” Cavendish pointed out. “How will we explain that?”

 

“I’ll just say he’s a cousin of mine coming down to visit.” Milo suggested.

 

“I suppose that will work. However we need to think of a new name for him. It would be odd if both you and your cousin were named Milo.” Cavendish said.

 

“I got the perfect name for him!” Dakota said. “Connor! Connor Murphy!”

 

“No.” Cavendish said flatly.

 

“Someone needs a little reinvention..” Dakota grumbled.

 

“How about Augustine, or Atticus?” Cavendish suggested.

 

Milo shook his head. “No, it doesn’t sound right. Besides it’s not really our place to decide.” He turned to Milo 2. “What name should we call you?”

 

Milo 2 was surprised. “I uh …. I .. I kinda like the name Mikey?”

 

“Mikey it is then!” Milo said.

 

Mikey managed a small smile. 

 

“Now we need to find a disguise.” Cavendish said. He walked over and examined Mikey. “Hmmm. Is it okay if I touch your hair, Murp..Mikey?”

 

Mikey nodded. Cavendish started pressing down his hair so it was flatter. To Milo it looked like his hair did when it was wet. “There that should do. We just need to give you some new clothes.”

 

“I think I got something.” Dakota said, digging through a box of Brick and Savannah's disguises. He pulled out an oversized, beige, oatmeal colored wool sweater. He went over to Mikey. “Here, touch it and make sure the texture doesn’t give you sensory issues.”

 

Mikey rubbed his hand against it. “Soft.” He rubbed one of the sleeves against his face.

 

“I think this one’s good.” Dakota said.

 

Mikey got dressed. With his flattened hair, new outfit, and his stop sign scar he managed to look different enough from Milo that it would be believable they were cousins. 

 

“And one more thing!” Milo dug into his backpack and took out something large, bulky, and gray. “Body armor!”

 

“I .. I’ll pass.” Mikey said looking at it with anxious, wide eyes

 

Milo shrugged then put it back. “Suit yourself.”

 

Mikey picked at a loose piece of thread on his sweater.

 

“You feeling better?” Milo asked gently.

 

Mikey shook his head.

 

“You want to listen to some music? That helps calm me down.” Milo said as he pulled out an MP3 player and earbuds.

 

Mikey put them in and scrolled through the music.

 

_ Bow, chicka, bow..wow! _

_ That's what my baby says! _

_ Mow..mow..mow! _

_ And my heart starts pu.. _

 

_ Too loud!  _ He whined and switched to the next song.

 

Murphy’s Law however seemed to only be giving him loud songs or others that gave him bad sensory feels. Everytime he got to the next song he’d grab his sleeve and rub it. It took a while of flipping before we found a song that he was okay with.

 

_ I know you're pining _ _   
_ _ But every cloud has got a silver lining _ _   
_ _ The leaves are parting now the sun is shining _ _   
_ __ And you're in my arms so the planets are aligning

 

Mikey relaxed and flapped his arms a bit.

 

_ Chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart! _ _   
_ _ I can feel it falling (timber!) and I will never part _ _   
_ _ I know you, you've been there from the start _ _   
_ __ So baby chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart!

_ Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na _

 

At this part Mikey flapped his arms even more and made happy sounds. When it ended he played it again. And again. And again. And again.

 

He got so caught up in the song he forgot to repeat it a fifth time. The next track started with helicopter blades followed by an explosion, and then screaming. Mikey’s hand shook as he cried loudly.

 

Cavendish, Milo, and Dakota looked extremely worried. Milo grabbed the MP3 player and looked at the track title:  **Sounds of Disaster**

 

He pulled the earbuds out quickly and pulled Mikey into a comforting, tight, hug that he accepted. _ I’m my only source of comfort …. I’m my only source of comfort … I’m my only source of comfort ...I ’m my only source of comfort … I’m my only source of comfort …. _

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to trigger you.” Milo said gently. 

 

“W .. Wh .. why?” Mikey asked, pointing to the MP3 player. Milo understood what he meant.

 

“Oh. It’s like white noise to me.” Milo said, shrugging it off. “I hear it so often.”

 

“I .. I do too but .. I .. I hate it!” Mikey whined as he curled up into a ball..

 

“It’s okay. I’m really sorry I triggered you.” Milo apologized. He went back to  _ Chop Away at My Heart  _ and pressed the loop button. “Here.”

 

Mikey sniffled and put the earbuds back in. He started calming down and flapping his arms again excitedly. 

 

“You can borrow this tonight if you want.” Milo said.

 

“Th..thank you.” Mikey said, more interested in the music than anything else at the moment. He started mumbling some of the lyrics under his breath as he stroked the MP3 player’s case with his thumb and played with the earbud wires. “ _..the planets are aligning...Chop, chop, chop!” _

 

“I better head home. Tomorrow I’ll show you around.” Milo said.

 

“Okay.” Mikey said before continuing to mouth along with the lyrics.

 

“See ya tomorrow!” Milo left the office, leaving Cavendish and Dakota alone with Mikey.

 

“So uh … now what?” Dakota asked.

 

“I don’t know! The only child caring experience I have is Murphy, and when you got turned into a toddler, and both those experiences were horrible!” Cavendish replied, completely overwhelmed. 

 

“Well I mean taking a kid along to destroy a sentient nut based empire isn’t really ‘child caring’ I think the right word for that is ‘child endangerment’.” Dakota looked at Mikey. “Besides, he’s not a toddler either, this will be  _ way _ easier.”

 

“Are teenagers even that much easier to raise?” Cavendish sighed, rolling his eyes slightly in annoyance.

 

“Hey, they’re not as bad as people are age make them out to be.” Dakota said. “Besides, he’s technically older than us.”

 

“I suppose you’re right...In both ways. I’ll be willing to give this a chance.” Cavendish said.

 

Mikey yawned. 

 

“I just realized, where is he going to sleep?” Cavendish asked.

 

Dakota shrugged. “In the bed with us?”

 

“There’s barely enough room as is.” Cavendish argued. 

 

“Well one of us can sleep on the floor...And by that I mean you.” Dakota said.

 

“Why me!? You hog most of the bed!” Cavendish was furious.

 

“Well I don’t know where to put my arms when I sleep anymore! Because you don’t want them anywhere  _ near  _ you since we broke up!” Dakota shot back.

 

“Ugh! This conversation is  _ not  _ about our separation, it’s about who hogs the most space! Besides I’m the one who bought the bed for the office so we wouldn’t have to sleep at our damn desks when we have to spend the night here anymore!” Cavendish yelled back.

 

“Yeah, yeah, no one cares! We share our finances anyway you old fart!” Dakota yelled

 

“Well maybe if you..” Cavendish stopped when he noticed Mikey whining and clasping his hands over his ears. “All right, all right, fine, I’ll sleep on the floor. You two can have the bed.”

 

Dakota smiled and threw him an extra pillow and blanket. “Have fun.”

  
  


That night Mikey and Dakota got into  bed. 

 

“Hey Cavendish, too bad we don’t have a Murphy bed! Ah, ah?” He laughed.

 

Cavendish just rolled his eyes and slammed his head into the pillow. “Just go to bed Dakota.”

 

“Fine, fine, Mr No Sense Of Humor.” Dakota grumbled under his breath as he pulled the covers over himself and Mikey.

 

Mikey scooted all the way over to the wall to give himself as much space as possible. Dakota sprawled out and started snoring loudly. Cavendish groaned and pressed the pillow against his ears.

 

Mikey couldn’t sleep and took out the MP3 player. He popped the earbuds in and put  _ Chop Away at My Heart  _ on repeat. He felt relaxed as he listened closely to the words.

 

_ I know you're pining _ _   
_ _ But every cloud has got a silver lining _ _   
_ _ The leaves are parting now the sun is shining _ _   
_ __ And you're in my arms so the planets are aligning

 

Mikey bounced his leg slightly.

 

_ Chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart! _ _   
_ _ I can feel it falling (timber!) and I will never part _ _   
_ _ I know you, you've been there from the start _ _   
_ __ So baby chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart!

_ Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na _

 

He didn’t understand why, but he felt like the song was about  _ him.  _ Like he was being held by the singer, the planets aligning, and feeling an overwhelming love came over him. It was similar to what he felt when his mom was holding him, but different. He couldn’t exactly describe how it was different, but he enjoyed it regardless. 

 

Slowly his eyelids became heavy as he drifted off to sleep with a new feeling of love washing over him.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5** **Welcome to Danville**

 

The next day while Cavendish worked on fixing the interdimensional orb, Milo and Dakota took Mikey around town. Mikey listened to their explanations of things in town while stimming with the fidget spinner.

 

“Hey Milo!” Zack called.

 

“Hi Milo!” Melissa greeted.

 

“Hi Melissa! Hi Zack!” Milo said with an excited wave.

 

“You seem better today.” Melissa noticed.

 

Milo furrowed his brows. “What do you mean?”

 

“You know yesterday? When you were crying about Elliot?” She explained, puzzled.

 

“And we had to help you home?” Zack added.

 

Milo thought for a moment before looking at Mikey who smiled sheepishly. Understanding now, he turned back to them. “Oh, uh, yeah I’m fine now! Thanks again guys!”

 

“No problem.” Melissa said, smiling. “Who’s this?”

 

“Oh, uh … m .. my … my cousin M .. Mikey. Dakota and I are .. are showing him around.” Milo said, anxious that he’d get caught.

 

“Hi, I’m Melissa.” She stepped towards Mikey with her hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

 

Mikey looked at her hand nervously.

 

…….

 

_ Two year old Milo 2 sat on the ground outside his house, plucking the grass. His dad and Sara sat nearby, working on spelling. _

 

_ “Grass. G .. R .. A .. S .. S. Grass.” Sara spelled. _

 

_ “Good job Sara.” Martin said. “Now how about ...Tree?” _

 

_ “T .. R …” _

 

_ Milo 2 toned them out and kept playing with the grass. He realized he’d picked a small area bare and sighed in boredom. He looked back over at Martin and Sara. _

 

_ “H .. O .. U .. S .. E. House!” She said proudly. _

 

_ “Very good Sara!” _

 

_ Seeing they were distracted, Milo 2 wandered off. He walked down the sidewalk and was having a good time until he saw a Norm Bot. He froze as the Norm Bot approached. “May I see your papers?” _

 

_ Milo 2’s heart pounded heavily and he took a small step back.  _

 

_ “Show me your papers..or be destroyed!” The Norm Bot said as he turned into battle mode. _

 

_ Nearby an old building started cracking via The Curse. Bits of rubble rained down on The Norm Bot. _

 

**_Is this The Curtsy thing daddy was talking about? Uh...what does he do again? Cs...cs...cs...Cs! The curtsy does not control me! Cs cs cs cs cs cs cs! CS!_ ** _ Milo 2 whimpered loudly. _

 

_ As the Norm Bot looked up, alerted by the sound, the building collapse _ d _ sending bricks and debris down, crushing him instantly. All that was left was a pile of sparking metal saying “May I see your papers…” in a broken robotic voice before stopping completely. _

 

_ Milo 2, breathing heavily, had just barely jumped out of the way, getting a few scratches in the process. Startled, Milo 2 stumbled onto the ground. He hugged his knees and cried loudly. _

 

_ “Are you all right!?” Asked a gentle voice. _

 

_ Milo sniffled and looked up to see an adult rushing towards him. He knelt in front of him.  _ _   
_ _ “Are you okay?” _

 

_ “S..s..scared…” Milo 2 whined. _

 

_ “What’s your name?”  He asked gently. _

 

_ “M..Milo…” He whimpered out. _

 

_ “Oh! You’re Martin’s little boy aren’t you? I’m Mr Chase.” He said with a gentle smile. _

 

_ Milo 2 nodded, but still avoided eye contact. _

 

_ “I’ll get you all patched up and then take you home, okay?” Mr Chase said as he stood up again. _

 

_ Milo 2 sniffled and nodded again. Mr Chase picked him up and took him to the house across the street. In the front yard was a little girl about Milo’s age with bright orange, curly hair, and big blue eyes. She looked up curiously, “Daddy?” _

 

_ “Hi Melissa.” Mr Chase greeted with a small smile He ruffled his daughter’s hair before heading inside with Milo. Melissa followed them.  _

 

_ “Daddy? Who’s that?”  She asked _

 

_ “This is Milo.” Mr Chase explained. “He’s Mr Murphy’s son. There was just a little incident and I’m just going to clean up his cuts quick before taking him home.” _

 

_ “Oh okay.” Melissa said as she sat on a chair to watch. _

 

_ “I need to get my first aid kit, why don’t you keep him company until I get back?”  Mr Chase suggested _

 

_ “Okay daddy!” Melissa called as he left the room. She turned her attention to Milo 2 and stuck her hand out. “Hi, I’m Melissa! Nice to meet you!” _

 

_ Milo 2 grabbed her hand and shook it. “I..I’m M..Milo.” _

 

_ “So what happened?” She asked, curiously. _

 

_ “I .. I was taking a walk and this Norm Bot started following me. Then this building collapsed on top of him!” Milo 2 explained. _

 

_ Melissa’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s so cool!” _

 

_ “It .. it is?” Milo 2 said in shock. _

 

_ “Yeah, I wish I could have seen it!” Melissa said, bouncing excitedly. _

 

_ “It wasn’t as great as it sounds.” Milo whined, rubbing some fresh scars he’d gotten from the collapse. _

 

_ “But a building fell!” Melissa protested. “What happened to the Norm Bot?” _

 

_ “It broke I guess.” Milo 2 shrugged. _

 

_ “Cool!” Melissa replied excitedly. _

 

_ Mr Chase came back with the first aid kit and set it on the counter next to Milo 2. He dug through the box taking out some antibiotic wipes and adhesive bandages. He rubbed the wipe against an open cut. Milo 2 whined as he pulled back in pain and squirmed slightly. _

 

_ “Shh it’s okay.” Mr Chase said and dabbed the wipe on his skin again. “It will help your owies feel better.” _

 

_ “But it hurts!” Milo 2  whined. _

 

_ “Just for a second. We need to wash all the germs out of it. Do you know what germs are?” Mr Chase asked. _

 

_ “Mhm. Daddy told me about them.” Milo 2 nodded _

 

_ “My daddy said they’re just like icky little monsters!” Melissa added. “I want to be a germ! Roar! Rawr!” _

 

_ Mr Chase chuckled. “Trust me Melissa, you wouldn’t want to be a germ.” _

 

_ “How come?” She pouted, crossing her arms. _

 

_ “Germs are bad guys, they hurt people, nobody likes germs. Not to mention you’d be killed a lot easier.” Mr Chase chuckled a bit. _

 

_ “Oh.” Melissa’s face fell. She rested her hand in her palm and tapped the table boredly with her other hand’s fingers. “Oh! want to play germs, Milo?” _

 

_ “Play germs?” Milo 2 asked, unsure. _

 

_ “Yeah it will be fun!” Melissa giggled. _

 

_ “O..okay.” He looked at Mr Chase who was finishing up the cleaning. He finished by putting on the adhesive bandages. _

 

_ “There, you’re all set.” Mr Chase said. “Now we need to get you home.” _

 

_ “But daddy we didn’t get to play!” Melissa whined. _

 

_ “Don’t worry kiddo, you two can play together tomorrow. Right now Milo needs to go home and rest.” Mr Chase explained. _

 

_ “Okay daddy ..” Melissa sighed. _

 

_ Mr Chase grabbed Milo 2, almost dropping him. “Oops sorry! I didn’t even feel you slipping. Are you okay?” _

 

_ Milo 2 nodded although he seemed a bit nervous from almost falling.  Mr Chase assumed this was from almost falling and just shrugged it off. _

 

_ “All right, let's get you home.” _

 

_ Mr Chase carried Milo 2 back home. As they walked up the driveway the mailbox’s support wood fell and it collapsed to the ground with a loud clang. Milo 2 covered his ears at the sound and whined loudly. _

 

_ “Huh. Strange.” Mr Chase said, looking at the broken mailbox, curiously. _

 

_ “H .. h .. h .. home ..” Milo 2 whimpered. _

 

_ “Right, home.” Mr Chase went up the steps of the house and knocked on the door. It took a moment before the door jiggled open. “Mr Murphy! Long time no see!” _

 

_ “Hey Mr Chase. Did you need something?” He sounded a bit panicked. _ __   
  


_ “I found something you lost.” He said, holding Milo 2 out to him. _

 

_ Martin grabbed him. “Oh Milo there you are!” He sighed in relief as he started kissing his face all over. _

 

_ “Daddy.” Milo 2 said, hugging his neck. _

 

_ “Please don’t ever run off like that again.” Martin said, at this point on the verge of tears. _

 

_ “I’m sorry daddy.” Milo 2 said, kissing his dad’s cheek in return. _

 

_ “Thank you so much for bringing him back.” Martin said. relieved. He looked down at Milo 2 and his eyes widened when he was the bandages. “Wait, did you get hurt!?” _

 

_ “A building collapsed. He got a few cuts, but I managed to bandage them up.” Mr Chasse explained. _

 

_ Martin tightened his grip on Milo 2. “Th..thank you. I need to uh..go.” _

 

_ He slammed the door shut and set Milo 2 down. “Why did you run off like that?” He demanded anxiously. _

 

_ “I..I don’t know..I..I..I’m..I’m sorry…” Milo 2 sniffled out. _

 

_ “You could have gotten killed!” Martin yelled _

 

_ Milo 2 flinched at his yelling. “I..I..I’m S..sorry d...daddy..” _

 

_ Martin sighed as he picked up Milo 2 again and hug him. “I’m sorry. I had no right to yell at you like that.”  _

 

_ Milo 2 snuggled into his dad’s chest and sniffled. “I..it’s okay d..daddy..” _

 

_ They stayed there in silence for a moment. _

 

_ “I met a new friend.” Milo 2 said, trying to change the subject. “Her name’s Melissa!” _

 

_ “Right that’s Mr Chase’s daughter. You can play with her, but you have to ask first.” Martin said. _

 

_ “Okay daddy.” Milo 2 smiled. “I can’t wait to play with her!” _

 

….. …...

 

“Uh, are you okay?” Melissa asked, worriedly.

 

Mikey snapped out of his trance and shook her hand. “I..I’m Mi..Mikey.” 

 

_ Not that we haven’t met before. I know you Melissa, I really do... _

 

“I’m Zack.” Greeted the other.

 

Mikey forced himself to wave. “H..hi…”

 

“So, how do you like it here so far?” Melissa asked.

 

“Well it’s a lot..different than where I’m from.” He played with his sweater sleeve. “Where I’m from there’s a big wall surrounding the city to keep us in.”

 

Milo and Dakota looked at each other in mutual horror. Melissa and Zack looked concerned.

 

“Well that’s..” Melissa trailed off.

 

“Messed up.” Zack finished.

 

“I..I guess you get used to it y..you know?” Mikey said.

 

“Why is it even walled off?” Zack asked

 

“To keep The Curse contained.” Mikey explained

“The Curse?” Zack asked.

 

“M..Murphy’s Law, I..I m..mean.” Mikey covered

 

“His community isn’t as accepting of Murphy’s Law as they are here.” Milo explained. “That’s why they call it The Curse there.”

 

“They’re accepting here?” Mikey asked, surprised.

 

“Yeah of course! I mean some people are annoyed by it, but for the most part yeah.” Milo said, putting his arm around him. “Don’t worry.”

 

Mikey hugged him.  _ I’m my only source of comfort...I’m my only source of comfort…I’m my only source of comf...... _ His stomach growled loudly.

 

“Why don’t we get some food.” Milo suggested, grabbing Mikey’s hand in reassurance. Mikey squeezed it in comfort.

 

“O..okay.” Mikey said.

 

“Yeah I could eat.” Melissa said.

 

“I forgot my wallet, it’s in my other tracksuit.” Dakota said. “Well it’s empty but that’s where it is….”

 

“That’s okay Dakota, I’ll pay for you.” Milo said.

 

“No kid I can’t ask you to do that.” Dakota said.

 

“Why not? You’ve done a lot for me, I owe you one.” Milo replied.

 

Mikey panicked. “I..I don’t have any m..money either. Well n..not money for..here.”

 

“Are you from another country?” Zack asked.

 

“I..I Um..” Mikey stumbled over his words.

 

“Yeah, he’s from Canada!” Milo covered.

 

“Oooooh!” Melissa and Zack said.

 

“What’s Canada?” Mikey whispered to Milo.

 

“It’s a lot like here but with free healthcare and pretty money.” Milo whispered back. He stopped whispering. “I can cover you too.”

 

“Are..are you sure?” Mikey nervously asked.

 

“If you’re worried about it you can share with me if you want.” Zack suggested.

 

“O..okay th..thank you.”

 

They headed to the _ Schwarz Diner  _ which was about a block away from their school. They slid into a red cushioned booth Milo and Dakota on one side and Mikey, Zack, and Melissa on the other.

 

A waitress came over. “Oh hello Milo! Let me get your ‘personal’ menu.”

 

She was about to walk of, but Milo stopped her. “Can you get my dad’s menu too? Mikey’s my cousin and he’s got Murphy’s Law too.”

 

“On it, hun.” The waitress came back with the menus. Milo and Mikey’s were in a highly laminated, thick casing, while everyone else's was just a thin paper menu with one layer of lamination. 

 

Mikey hid his face in the menu.  _ People are staring. They’re staring and judging me! They know about The Curse! They’re all laughing at me. Zack, Melissa, Dakota, all laughing! _

 

“So, what do you want to order?” Zack asked, grabbing the menu and putting it down so they could both look at it.

 

“I..I don’t know.” Mikey looked at it.  **_Nachos:  Assorted Tortilla chips covered in melted and shredded cheese, topped with chile con queso, salsa, pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, chopped onions, and refried beans._ ** “That sounds good.” he said, pointing to it.

 

“All right that’s good.” Zack said. “Although kind of messy for Murphy’s Law isn’t it?”

 

Mikey felt guilty. “I..I’m sorry. I..I’ll pick something else.”

 

Zack frowned. “No it’s okay, I’m sorry.”

 

_ Wait...He’s apologizing? _

 

Mikey looked at Milo with confused eyes.

 

“He’s sensitive about Murphy’s Law.” Milo said. “Jokes like that trigger him.”

 

“I’m sorry.” Zack apologized again, sincerely.

 

“I..it’s okay..I’m used to it…”

 

“No, that doesn’t excuse it. I was only thinking about how Milo reacts to those jokes.” 

 

Mikey started unrolling the napkin the silverware was in and moved the paper around his fingers. When the waitress placed glasses of water at the table, he switched the bobbing the straw in and out of the water. After bobbing it a few times it flew out of his hand and landed two booths over.

 

“I..I’m sorry.” He mumbled.

 

“You don’t have to apologize for Murphy’s Law.” Milo said.

 

“I..I don’t? But it’s my fault, isn’t it?”

 

Milo shook his head. “No. Murphy’s Law is never our fault.”

 

“That’s not what I was taught…” He mumbled.

 

“Then maybe you need a new lesson.” Milo said a bit too excitedly. “Murphy’s Law is great!” 

 

He grabbed the straw from his water and leaned across to put it in Mikey’s glass. He banaged his elbow on the table as he pulled back, but he just rubbed it and went on smiling.

 

Mikey bobbed the straw again.  _ How can he be so optimistic? It’s like he doesn’t see The Curse as well….a curse! I don’t think I’ll ever understand him…. _

  
  


Cavendish took out a small tool kit and started getting to work on fixing the interdimensional orb. It zapped and flashed rapidly. He pulled the orb apart and begun working.  _ That Murphy boy. He’s quite a handful, and now I have to take care of one of my own! The sooner I get this done the better. _

 

Hearing the ring of the communicator Cavendish groaned. He set the orb down and answered.

 

“Hello?” He sighed.

 

“Cavendish!”

 

“M..Mr Block, s..sir. I..I uh.....”

 

“Care to explain why the new pistachio farm caught on fire yesterday?” He snarled.

 

“I have no idea sir.” Cavendish said, politely. “Dakota and I were cleaning outhouses in the renaissance, like you assigned us. They’ve got really beautiful artwork there, you should stop by one day and see.”

 

Mr Block gave him stink eye. “Right...By the way did you happen to ‘borrow’ Brick and Savannah's gear for that?”

 

“N..no of course not.” Cavendish was starting to get nervous. 

 

Mr Block glared again. “...Get back to cleaning…” He shut off the communicator.

 

Cavendish sighed in relief.  _ That was close. I better finish this before he catches on anymore. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 The Pistachio Slayers**

 

That Sunday, Milo, Mikey, and Melissa headed over to Zack’s house.

 

“....And that was The Woodpecker Incident!” Milo said.

 

Mikey blinked. “Does this stuff happen everyday?”

 

“Basically.” Milo shrugged.

 

“B..but not today right?” 

 

“No don’t worry.” Milo said, putting his arm around him. “We’re just gonna play Skiddley Whiffers.”

 

“Oh I’ve played that.” Mikey said lightening up a bit. “Sara, dad and I loved playing it! I used to play it with Melissa too, but...” He trailed off.

 

“You know a Melissa and Sara too? That’s kind of ironic.” Melissa teased.

 

“No, that’s not ironic.” Milo said. “That’s a coincidence, not irony.”

 

Melissa rolled her eyes. “Oh please forgive me for my word crimes.”

 

Milo laughed. “All right, but you better watch yourself missy.” Melissa laughed as she playfully slugged him in the shoulder. Milo was about to playfully hit back but stopped when he saw Melissa wincing in pain.

 

“Melissa!” He looked over to see Mikey pulling tightly on her hair. Milo pushed him off.    
“What are you doing!?”

 

“She..she was hurting m..you!” He whined.

 

“I’d never hurt Milo!” Melissa sounded offended. 

 

“But..but..but…”

 

“Stay here Melissa, I’m gonna take to my cousin in private.” Milo pulled him away. “Why’d you hurt Melissa?!”

 

“I..I thought she was h..hurting you!” He whined.

 

Milo looked puzzled. “Hurt me? Why would she hurt me?”

 

“Because my Melissa hurts me!” He whined.

 

“Wh..what?” Milo’s eyes widened.

 

“We were fr..friends until I was F..F..Four and t..told her about The C..C..curse!” He cried.

 

“Mikey..” Milo stroked his cheek gently, his fingertips caressing the stop sign scar.

 

Mikey shivered. “I got that shortly after. Someone told Elliot and he attacked me with his stop sign.”

 

Milo pulled him into a hug. “We won’t that happen to you again. No one’s going to hurt you here I promise.”

 

“O..okay.”

 

Milo grabbed his hand and lead him back to Melissa. “I..I’m sorry Melissa. I..I overreacted a little.”

 

“A little?”

 

Mikey winced.

 

“..It’s fine. Just don’t do that again, okay?”

 

“I..I won’t h..hurt you again I..I p..promise.”

 

“No, I meant don’t accuse me of trying to hurt Milo...But yeah don’t pull my hair again either.”

 

Mikey gripped Milo’s hand tighter. When they got to Zack’s house, Milo knocked on  the door, breaking a fist sized hole in it. “Oops.”

 

Zack opened the door. “Hey Milo! Melissa, Mikey!”

 

“Hey Zack.” Both Melissa and Milo greeted as they went inside.

 

“H..hi.” Mikey said shyly.

 

They went over to the kitchen table where a Skiddley Whiffers board was set up. Mikey sat in a wooden chair between Zack and Milo, while Melissa sat on Milo’s other side.

 

Mikey picked up the unicorn piece and started rubbing his fingers over it,, taking in the smooth texture. The horn had a small, but yet pleasant poking feel when touched. He placed the unicorn down on the table and made it gallop. He picked up the fedora piece and put it on the unicorn’s head.

 

“She looks like a secret agent!” He giggled.

 

“Yeah, she does!” Milo said excitedly.

 

Mikey took the fedora off and decided on playing with the unicorn piece. Milo chose the hair dryer, Melissa,the nose, and Zack the fedora.

 

“All right, let's get started!” Milo exclaimed.

  
  
  


Back at the office Cavendish was working on the orb while Dakota laid on the bed, flipping through some magazines. “Hey, did you know Tobias Trollhammer is secretly a werewolf?”

 

Cavendish rolled his eyes. “Dakota, you can’t believe everything you read in those tabloids.” He turned his attention back to the orb.

 

“Oh, so I shouldn’t believe there’s a pistachio fair downtown this afternoon?”

 

Cavendish dropped his screwdriver and quickly turned to Dakota. “What did you say?”

 

“There’s going to be a pistachio fair downtown today, but you know, since you said tabloids are fake and all..”

 

“Give me that!” Cavendish grabbed the magazine from his hands and scanned over the article. “Oh no!  We’ve got to do something! We need to get Murphy! Come on!”

 

He grabbed Dakota’s arm and started dragging him out the door.. Before they could leave their communicator rang.

 

“I’ll get it.” Dakota said, grabbing for it.

 

“Dakota, no!”

 

“Hello?”

 

Mr Block was staring back at Dakota, unamused. “Funny, it doesn’t look like you’re in a renaissance outhouse…”

 

“Well we were uh..”

“On our way!” Cavendish covered, grabbing the device from Dakota. “We were just uh, finishing up lunch.”

 

“Right.” Mr Block replied, deadpan.

 

“Now if you’ll excuse us we have work to do.”

 

“No, that’s not the only reason I called.”

 

“It..it isn’t?” Cavendish tensed up.

 

“The agency is missing an Interdimensional Orb. You haven’t seen it have you?”

 

“N..no of course not! We have nowhere near the proper clearance to handle one of those, let alone look at one.” Cavendish said.

 

“Are you blaming us for it!?” Dakota protested.

 

“No,  _ but  _ I know you two tend to ‘borrow’ supplies from Brick and Savannah, and the fact that the Interdimensional Orb I gave them for their mission went missing…Well, I have a right to assume..”

 

“No you do..Wait! You gave them an Interdimensional Orb for pistachio duty!?” Cavendish asked.

 

“Why didn’t we ever get one!?” Dakota asked angrily.

 

“Why? So you can blow up another dimension’s second moon?”

 

Cavendish glared. Dakota shifted uncomfortably and stimmmed with his sleeve as he whined a bit.

 

“Besides given how bad things are going we might need to get pistachios from another dimension if they can’t be saved in this one.”

 

Dakota and Cavendish looked at each other in worry before looking back at the transmitter.

 

“If you see the Interdimensional Orb call me and I’ll get Brick and Savannah to pick it up. Now get to work!” Mr Block hung up.

 

“Ugh! I have to keep working on the orb Dakota. We need to get him back as soon as possible now. You’re going to have to go with Murphy while I work on this.”

 

“You sure about this?” Dakota asked worriedly.

 

“Of course. I trust you and Murphy to handle it.”

 

“You do?”

 

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

 

“I..I’m gonna go.” Dakota left and Cavendish got back to work.

  
  
  


“Skiddley Whiffers! Boom!” Melissa proclaimed as she rang the bell. 

 

“Good job Melissa!” Milo said. 

 

“I’m the queen of Skiddley Whiffers.”

 

“You only won because half the board got water damaged!” Zack protested.

 

“Sorry again.” Milo said sheepishly.

 

“Well, I still won.” Melissa said.

 

“Let’s just do something else for. Maybe if we let the board dry it will be fine.” Zack said.

 

“Want to ride bikes?” Milo suggested.

 

“Sure.”

 

“I..I don’t know how to r..ride a bike.” Mikey said.

 

“Well we can help you.” Milo said. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a bike helmet that he plopped on Mikey’s head.

 

“We can ask my brother if we can borrow the training wheels from his bike.” Zack said. They went to another room where one of Zack’s brothers was playing with a toy car.

 

Zack tapped on his shoulder. The child looked up and gave what looked like to Mikey, a salute. Zack did something with his hands that looked like bike pedaling along with various other motions.

 

A few moments later Zack came back over. “He said it’s okay.”

 

“What were you doing?” Mikey asked, puzzled.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“With your hands.”

 

“Oh, sign language. My brother’s Deaf so we use it a lot around the house. I’ve taught some to Milo and Melissa, if you want I could teach you some too.”

 

“Okay.” Mikey smiled.

 

Zack put his hand out and signed  **M..I..K..E..Y.** “That’s your name, Mikey.”

 

Mikey smiled and flapped his arms. “Cool!”

 

They headed outside. Zack and Melissa got the training wheels onto Zack’s bike. Mikey nervously got on the bike...it tipped over as soon as he sat on it.

 

“I thought training wheels were supposed to prevent that.” Zack said.

 

“Murphy’s Law.” Melissa replied.

 

Zack put out his hand and helped Mikey up.

 

“Thanks. I..I hope I didn’t scratch up your bike.”

 

“Trust me it’s fine.” Zack said, setting it back up. “Are you okay though.”

 

“Y..yeah just a small scrape.”

 

Zack was about to ask  if he wanted to go inside and wash it off when a car pulled up into the driveway. Dakota got out of the car and ran towards Milo. “Milo!” He grabbed his shoulders. “You’ve got to come with me!”

 

“Where?” Milo asked.

 

“Downtown, kid! There’s a pistachio fair downtown and we gotta stop it!”

 

“But...My friends.” Milo said, gesturing towards them.

 

“Well bring them along, they’re Pistachio Slayers too!”

 

“Pistachio Slayers?” Zack asked, furrowing his brows in confusion. “Is that really what we’re calling ourselves?”

 

Dakota shrugged. “It was my idea. Cavendish isn’t too keen on it, but he’s not here so yeah.”

 

They were silent for a moment.

 

“All right everyone just get into the car!”

 

“But wait, Mikey probably has no idea what’s going on.” Melissa said. “Should we really be getting him involved?”

 

“We’ll explain on the way, just come on!” Dakota urged.

  
  


They made it just as the fair was just getting into swing.

 

“So, where do we start?” Milo asked.

“I…” Dakota paused. “...I don’t know. Just split up and get rid of as many pistachios as you can.”

 

“S..Split u..up?” Mikey asked.

 

Dakota frowned. “Uh, how about teams then?”

 

“Milo and I should go together. If The Llama Incident proves anything, it's that we’re a pretty good team.” Melissa said.

 

“I’ll go with Mikey and uh..yellow shirt then.” Dakota said.

 

“Zack.”

 

“Zack, right.”

 

“Milo and I will start at that end.” Melissa said pointing down the street.

 

“And we’ll start at the other end and meet in the middle.” Dakota said.

 

“All right let's go!” Milo said.

 

“Wait, if either of you see Brick or Savannah, hide or look for me okay?” 

 

“Got it.” Milo said.

 

The two groups split up. The destruction took place right away as multiple carts Milo and Mikey passed succumbed to Murphy’s Law in various ways. One started on fire, roasting the pistachios to pure charcoal, while one cart just flat out exploded.

 

“One point for Murphy’s Law!” Zack laughed. “High five!” 

 

He lifted his hand up and Mikey looked at it curiously.  _ What’s a high five?  _ Panicking he just placed his hand against Zack’s palm and interlocked his fingers with his.  _ I sure hope this is right… _

 

Zack froze for a second before putting his hand down, still holding it. 

 

“I..I don’t k..know what a high five is…” Mikey squeaked out in admittance.

 

“Yeah I got that. It’s okay.” Zack said. “When Milo and I high five I usually get slapped in the face. This is a lot better, trust me.”

 

Mikey let out a small sheepish giggle.

 

Worried he might get anxious again Zack let him hold onto his hand to comfort him. Whenever he tensed up he gave it a light squeeze which seemed to help.

 

After a stand of pistachios collapsed right in front of them,  Mikey opted to also hold Dakota’s hand as well.

 

“You need a break?” Dakota asked.

 

Mikey nodded. They sat down on a wooden bench nearby.

 

“Wait is this bench made of pistachio shells?” Zack asked, tapping it his fist against it.

 

“Damn, they really take this fair seriously.” Dakota said.

 

Mikey kicked his feet back and forth.

 

“You want to learn some signs while we’re here?” Zack asked.

 

“S..sure.” Mikey squeaked out.

 

Zack put his fist out with his thumb at the side. “This is A.”

 

Mikey copied him. “A.”

 

“Hey what’s the sign for pistachio?” Dakota asked.

 

“Oh uh, I don’t think there’s one. You just finger spell it.” Zack said. He spelled it out in ASL.

 

“Or if you really needed you could clarify you could sign ‘green nut’.” They looked up.

 

“Savannah! Uh, what are you doing here?” Dakota asked.

 

She blinked. “What do you think I’m doing here?”

 

“Enjoying the fair..like me?” Dakota asked sheepishly.

 

“Uh huh.” She looked at the three of them and paused at Mikey. “You!”

 

“M..me?” Mikey asked shakily.

 

“You’re that Murphy boy!” She yelled.

 

“Wh..what?” Mikey nervously took a step back.

 

Dakota put himself in front of Mikey and Zack protectively and faced Savannah. “It’s not him, it’s his cousin.”

 

Savannah narrowed her eyes. “I’m not stupid Dakota. Now move.”

 

“Why?”

 

She grabbed his arm harshly. “Ow, ow, ow! Let go!”

 

Savvanah only tightened her grip and glared deeper. “Let me look at him then.” She pushed him aside and looked Mikey straight in the eyes. Mikey whined and pressed his back against the bench, trying to get away from her.

 

Zack grabbed his hand and stroked his thumb against his palm.

 

**A A A A A  A A A A A A A A A A**

 

Mikey kept signing, unable to speak except for some high pitched whines.

 

“You  _ are _ him!” Savannah grabbed his arm tightly.

 

Mikey screamed. Dakota pulled her hair to get her off. “Let go!”

 

Zack tightened his grip on Mikey’s hand and pulled him out of the way.

 

“Are you okay?” Zack asked gently.

 

Mikey whined and signed again.

 

**A A A A A A A A A A A A**

 

“We need to get out of here.” Zack breathed out. He dragged him to a nearby porta potty and hid inside it. Zack locked it and sat by Mikey who was hugging his knees. “Are you okay?”

 

Mikey shook his head and whimpered.  **A A A A A A A A A A A A**

 

“Are you scared?” Zack asked. On the last word he put his fists in front of his body and then spread out his fingers in front of his body.

 

Mikey nodded.

 

Zack clenched his fist and tilted it back and forth like it was nodding. “Yes.”

 

Mikey copied him.

 

The two sat there practicing signs, momentarily forgetting about Savannah. 

  
  
  


Melissa and Milo had gotten to work on the other end of the fair and were edging their way towards the middle

 

“Good job Milo.” Melissa said. “We got a lot of them!”

 

“Well it wasn't  _ all  _ me.” Milo said humbly. “The wolverines helped.”

 

Melissa laughed a bit. “Right, right. They need credit too.”

 

“You there! Stop!”

 

Milo and Melissa stopped and looked back to see Brick coming towards them.

 

“What are you doing here!?” He demanded

 

“We’re just enjoying the fair, relax.” Melissa said harshly.

 

“Hm...So you had  _ nothing  _ to do with the pistachios that got destroyed.” He asked, raising a brow.

 

“No?”

 

“Well, maybe some, you know Murphy’s Law and all, but not on purpose.” Milo said.

 

Brick looked at them suspiciously. “All right then...Just, be careful around the pistachios, okay?”

 

“I’ll try!” Milo said. He and Melissa continued on. When they were out of sight of Brick Milo whispered to Melissa, “That was close. We’d better find Dakota.”

 

“Right.”

 

They started heading to the other end of the fair when they saw Savannah running after Dakota.

 

“Milo! Orange hair, run!” Dakota yelled.

 

“It’s Melissa!”

 

They hid behind a bench.

 

“Wait.” Savannah stopped. “Was that..Murphy?”

 

“Yeah, and you’re not getting your hands on him!” Dakota yelled.

 

“But I..I saw Murphy..He…”

 

“Again, that was his cousin!” Dakota said, dodging a punch.

 

“You’re breaking time travel regulations aren’t you!?”

 

“N..No!”

 

Savannah snarled and kept fighting,Brick joined her soon after. 

 

“There’s another one of them on the other side.” Savannah said. “The yellow shirt! And another timeline Murphy!”

 

“Got it!” Brick went off.

  
  
  


**M..U..R..P..H..Y..S L..A..W** Mikey finger spelled.

 

“Or we can just sign ‘M..L’ for shorthand.” Zack said.

 

There was knock on the porta potty door.

 

“Uh..Occupied?” Zack said awkwardly.

 

There was silence for a moment before the banging grew louder. 

 

Mikey hugged onto Zack shakily.

 

“Dude what the heck!? Stop!” Zack yelled

 

Murphy’s Law took effect and the door broke off its hinge. Brick was standing outside of the porta potty, glaring. 

 

“What the heck are you doing!?” Zack yelled before pausing. “Oh wait..it’s you!...But what the heck are you doing!?”

 

“I happened to see your friends were here, at a  _ pistachio  _ fair.”

 

“And?”

 

“And all of you were involved in the whole ‘evil sentient pistachio’ lie.” Brock said. “So it’s  _ highly  _ suspicious you’re all here at the same time.”

 

“Hey we’re just showing Milo’s cousin Mikey around.” Zack protested, pointing to the boy who was still clinging tightly to his side.

 

Brick stared at him. “And you’re trying to disguise another Milo Murphy to help you!”

 

“What are you talking about? This is Milo’s cousin! He’s  _ not  _ Milo!”

 

…..

_ Eleven year old Milo stepped quietly down the sidewalk, being careful to not get caught. He gripped onto his arm tightly. “I’m okay..I’m okay...I’m Milo..Not F..Four..I’m okay..I’m Milo..I’m Milo...Not F.....” _

 

_ “Four!” _

 

_ Milo stiffened in place.  _ **_No no no no…_ **

 

_ Elliot Decker stomped towards him, metal stop sign still with light blood stains, tight in his hand. _

 

_ “What are you doing out here!?” _

 

_ “I..I...I just..I..” He took a step back, and slipped onto the ground, scraping his elbow. He winced and tried to scoot away from the Safety Czar. _

 

_ “Get out of here Four!” Elliot yelled. _

 

_ “I..I’m n..not F..Four..” He managed to say. “I..I’m M..Milo..” _

 

_ “No!” He yelled,slamming the stop sign against the sidewalk, making a large bang. “You’re not! You’re cursed! You’re the fourth cursed one here, so you’re Four!” _

…..

 

“I..I’m n..n..not Milo..” Mikey squeaked out. “I..I’m F..F..F.....”

 

“He’s Mikey.” Zack finished. Mikey clung to him tighter.

 

“Are you telling me my partner is lying?”

 

“Yes, I am!” Zack said, glaring him down. “We don’t have anything to do with this. Now leave us alone!”

 

Brick didn’t back down and tried to grab them. Until he was hit in the back of the head by Dakota.

 

“Come on!” Dakota urged them out while Brick was down. They met up with Melissa and Milo and hurried back to the time vehicle.

 

Dakota turned the key. The engine sputtered and spat. Dakota groaned and waited a moment before trying again.

 

“What are you doing?!” Melissa asked

 

“I don’t want to flood it..” Dakota explained.

 

“Does that matter right now!? Just go!”

 

“Fine, fine!” He turned the key again and the time vehicle started. “Well, that could’ve gone better.”

 

“At least we got a lot of pistachios destroyed.” Milo said cheerfully.

 

Dakota leaned over and ruffled his hair. “Yeah. You did great kid. All of you did.”

  
  
  


Brick and Savannah met back in their time limo. 

 

“I can’t believe we failed  _ again _ !” Savannah groaned, holding on tightly to the steering wheel. 

 

“If it weren’t for Dakota and Cavendish still trying to perpetuate the sentient pistachio empire story we’d be fine! They already got off pistachio duty, what else do they want!?” Brick snarled.

 

“Maybe they’re just doing it as a personal vendetta against us.” Savannah said.

 

“At Least we can report them for taking a Murphy from another time.”

 

“Not with them playing the cousin card. If it turns out we're wrong Mr Block won’t be happy we got a bystander involved in time travel related matters.” Savannah said. “We need more proof.”

  
  
  


Dakota opened the door to the office, holding an exhausted young teen in his arms. 

“How did the mission go?” Cavendish asked.

 

“We ran into Brick and Savannah, but we did fine. Poor kid is exhausted though.” Dakota said. “I’m gonna tuck him in.”

 

“Oh, you brought Murphy back with you?” Cavendish asked, softening a bit. “Bring him here.”

 

“Ah,..okay?”

 

Dakota went over and plopped him into Cavendish’s arms. He unconsciously wrapped his arms around the time traveller and snuggled his head into the crook of his neck. Cavendish pulled him closer, still focusing on the orb. However as soon as he touched the shirt fabric he noticed something was..off. He looked down to see Mikey curled against him. “Wait..this isn’t Murphy!”

 

“Well I mean it’s  _ a  _ Murphy, just not a Milo Murphy.”

 

Cavendish exhaled sharply. “Just take him to bed.”

 

“But he looks so comfy, I don’t want to wake him.”

 

“Dakota, don’t get attached to him. This is just a temporary situation.” He pulled away from the hug and kept working on the orb. Mikey whimpered and pushed himself closer.

 

“Oh come on! We should make him comfortable while he’s here, right?” Dakota protested.

 

Cavendish sighed in defeat. “All right, fine. But as soon as he wakes up, he has to get off of me.”

 

Mikey snuggled close again. Cavendish hesitantly put his arm against him again, holding him while he continued on the orb.  _ Given what Mr Block said, if anything this Murphy could be useful in our pistachio slaying mission in his dimension. We must send him back. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 Home School Hijinx**

 

Mikey sat boredly on the bed, playing with his fidget spinner while Cavendish worked on the orb. Zack, Milo, and Melissa had gone to school, which Cavendish wasn’t willing to risk Mikey going to. Given he didn’t even know what indoor plumbing was a few days ago it was probably for the best.

 

“Cavendish I think he’s bored.” Dakota said.

 

Cavendish groaned. “Then find him something to do.”

 

“You want to play cards?” Dakota asked Mikey.

 

Mikey kept his eyes on his fidget spinner and clamped his pointer and middle fingers together against his thumb to sign  **No.**

 

“Hm okay. Uh, you want to hear about The Pistachtions again?”

 

Mikey whimpered and signed  **Scared.**

 

“I’m sorry kid.” Dakota put his arm around him. Mikey hugged him. “You want to go somewhere then? Like the park or community center, or something?”

 

Mikey excitedly signed  **Yes.**

 

“Hey Cavendish, you want to come with?”

 

“I’m kind of busy here.”

 

“You need to take a break eventually.” Dakota pointed out. “it will still be here when we get back.”

 

“No, I can’t risk leaving such a powerful device alone!”

 

“Well then take it with. Staying in here all day isn’t good for any of us.”

 

“Fine.” Cavendish sighed. He grabbed a beige messenger bag and put the orb inside. He placed it around his neck and held it tightly under his other arm. “Ready.”

 

They headed out of the office just as the landlord was coming by. Dakota panicked and picked up Mikey quickly as he and Cavendish pressed their backs against the wall.

 

“We need to get out of here.” Cavendish whispered. He turned towards Dakota. “Get Mikey away from him. I’ll catch up with you. It would be better if he just caught one of us instead of all three.”

Dakota gripped Mikey tightly and ran off. Mikey clung on until they made it far enough way for Dakota to slow down.

 

“Wh..who was that?” Mikey asked.

 

“The landlord.” Dakota explained. “Mr Block keeps ‘forgetting’ to send us rent money. So for now we’re just hiding from him. But don’t worry about it, okay?”

 

“O..okay.” Mikey said.

 

Dakota put Mikey down. He seemed less tense now and looked around curiously. Without the giant walls everything seemed so….massive. The amount of people casually walking around and talking without any fear. It was very cathartic. 

 

Enjoying the feeling and wanting to amplify it he started mumbling lyrics under his breath, 

_ “The leaves are parting now the sun is shining and you're in my arms so the planets are aligning..” _

 

Once he got to the chorus who excitedly flapped his arms again.  _ “Chop Chop Chop!” _

 

A few minutes later Cavendish caught up with them, panting heavily. “Well that could have gone better. I’m sorry Dakota but I had to give him our ‘pizza money.’”

 

“Dang it!” Dakota said. “That means we actually have to cook tonight.”

 

“I can help.” Mikey said. “I love cooking!”

 

“All right, sounds good to me.” Dakota said, shrugging.

 

Cavendish’s eyes widened. “I..I think I should cook...Murphy’s Law and all…”

 

“Ah come on, let the kid help at least.” Dakota protested.

 

“Fine, he can help. So, where are we heading to?”

 

“We could go to the community center.” Dakota suggested. “You can probably find somewhere to sit down and work on the orb.”

 

“Thank you for thinking of me.” Cavendish said, rolling his eyes.

 

They were heading across the street when Murphy’s Law struck once again. A group of woodpeckers we’re pecking at the tree trunk, looking for bugs. Giving up they flew off, leaving the tree unstable. As they made it to the crosswalk the tree fell with a small  _ Doofenshmirtz _ , onto Cavendish.

 

Mikey stepped back in fear, tears welling in his eyes while Dakota stood there undazed. Mikey’s whimpers turned into full on sobbing. He hugged Dakota’s leg and snuggled close. Dakota ruffled his hair, desperately doing what he could to calm him down. He wished more than anything he could tell him what he was about to do, that in a few minutes this wouldn’t even matter.

 

“It’s okay kid, it’s okay.” Dakota pulled him into a tight hug. People were starting to gather around the tree while the sirens of police cars and ambulances sounded.

 

Dakota tried to pull away, but Mikey didn’t loosen his grip. “Please d..don’t l..leave me!”

 

“Kid,I..” Dakota exhaled sharply. “I..I can’t...Trust me it would be better if you stayed here.”

 

‘But..but..” Mikey whined as he held on tighter. 

 

“...Kid...All right come on.” He picked him up and took him to the time vehicle. He grabbed Mikey’s chin and made him look him in the eyes. “You have to promise me you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to do, okay?”

 

“O..o..okay.”

 

Dakota started the car and went back a few minutes earlier.

 

“Wh..what are we doing?”

 

“Just stay quiet and stick by me.” Dakota whispered. Mikey nodded and sniffled. They got out of the car quietly and hid in a nearby bush. Past Cavendish, Dakota, and Mikey were standing on the end of the cross walk.

 

“Well that could have gone better. I’m sorry Dakota but I had to give him our ‘pizza money.’”

 

“Dang it! That means we actually have to cook tonight.”   
  
“I can help.I love cooking!”   
  


Mikey’s eyes widened and he turned to Dakota. “Wh..what’s going on?”

 

Dakota put his finger to his lips and silently shushed him. He then waved his hand, managing to attract the attention of past Dakota. Dakota showed him Mikey and urged him to bring him over too.

 

“Ay Cavendish. Uh I think Mikey’s still a little anxious about the whole landlord thing. Mind if I take him around the block a bit to calm him down?” Past Dakota said.

 

“Go ahead. I’ll just wait here.”

 

“Greeeeaat! We’ll be right back.” He grabbed  Past Mikey’s hand and dragged him behind the bush.

 

“You brought the kid with? Really!?” Past Dakota asked.

 

“It was a traumatic experience for him, he didn’t want to be left alone. I  _ had  _ to!” Dakota protested as he reached in his jumpsuit for the ticket and travel brochure.

 

“You don’t think the island’s gonna be more traumatic for him?”

 

Dakota paused and looked at Mikey. He was sniffing and shaking heavily while gripping onto Dakota’s arm tightly. He turned back to Past Dakota. “No, I don’t actually.”

 

Past Dakota didn’t looked too thrilled with the answer. “Ugh! Okay, just forget it! We’re wasting time here, just tell me what happened!”

 

“A tree fell.” He said simply. “As we were crossing the crosswalk. Do you have your extra ticket for Mikey to use?”

 

“Yeah.” Past Dakota pulled his out from his tracksuit and paused.

 

“What?”

 

“I mean..Why do we give our past selves a ticket if we already have them?  What are we just gonna take it to the island with us?” Past Dakota pondered.

 

“I don’t know I’ve never been there. Maybe they have a deposit box or something. Just don’t worry about it. You need to go before we get caught.” 

 

Past Dakota grabbed Past Mikey’s hand and went off.

 

“Wh..where we going?” Past Mikey whined, gripping his hand tightly.

 

“Don’t worry kid.” Past Dakota said. “Just stay by me and you’ll be okay.”

 

Mikey nodded and tightened his grip on his hand.

 

…

“Follow my lead and pretend none of this just happened.” Dakota said, gripping Mikey’s hand and taking him back to Cavendish.

 

“Oh you’re back. So, where are we heading to?” Cavendish asked.   
  
“We could go to the community center.” Dakota suggested. “You can probably find somewhere to sit down and work on the orb.”   
  
“Thank you for thinking of me.” Cavendish said, rolling his eyes.

 

“Are...are going to w..watch him d..d..die again?” Mikey whispered anxiously to Dakota.

 

Dakota’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh God no.” He whispered back. “I don’t want to put you through that again.”

 

The woodpeckers finished their pecking and flew off. Dakota acted fast and pulled Cavendish out of the way.

 

Cavendish froze and looked at the tree. “Dakota, you..you saved me.”

 

“It’s no big deal.” Dakota said, shrugging it off.

 

“No you saved me. Thank you.” Cavendish said,sincerely.

 

Mikey grabbed Cavendish’s hand tightly. “Y..you’re okay.”

 

“Yes I’m all right.” Cavendish reassured. “Don’t worry.”

 

Mikey didn’t let go. Cavendish decided it would probably be better for his anxiety if he let him hold his hand as they crossed the street.  _ The tree falling must have startled him. No matter, I’m sure he’ll be fine in a little while. _

  
They entered the community center’s main lobby. A lot of children too young to start school or in  homeschool themselves were running around excitedly.   
  
“What do you want to do?” Dakota asked.

 

“I want to stay with Cavendish.” Mikey said, gripping tighter onto his arm.

 

“I’m sorry, but I have to work on the orb.” Cavendish frowned. “You’d be just as bored as if we’d stayed home. And obviously being bored is something of up which neither you or Dakota will put.”

 

Mikey tightened his grip.

 

“I’ll just be right over there.” Cavendish said, pointing to a nearby table.

 

“O..okay.” Mkey loosened his hold.

 

“What do you want to do kid?” Dakota asked, putting his arm around him.

 

“Hmm..” He looked around. There were play rooms and gyms, but they were full of other kids, which intimidated him a bit. 

 

“Oh! I want to try that!” Mikey said, pointing to a piano in the middle of the room, forgetting about Cavendish for a moment. That allowed Cavendish to sit down and begin work on the orb. Mikey ran over to the piano excitedly and sat at the bench. He started hitting random keys, making high notes ring throughout the lobby. It was mostly masked by the screaming of children, but it stuck out to Cavendish enough that he couldn’t keep working on the orb.   
  
_ The horror! He’s making the piano scream!  _ He stomped over and sat beside Mikey. As soon as he did Mikey hugged him again.

 

“The tree really did spook you didn’t it?” Cavendish asked gently.

 

“Y..yeah.” 

 

“May I?” Cavendish asked, gesturing to the piano.

 

“Sure!”

 

Cavendish cleared his throat and prepped his fingers before he started playing a beautiful melody. 

 

“You’re really good!” Mikey said.

 

“Thank you, it’s Beethoven. I was a concert pianist in my early 30s, before I joined the agency.”

 

Mikey watched Cavendish play and stroked his fingers over the key, liking the smooth texture of it.

 

“Here’s something you might recognize.” Cavendish started another song that sounded rather modern to Mikey. 

 

It took him a second but as soon as he recognized it, Mikey flapped his arms and sung along. “I know you're pining, but every cloud has got a silver lining! The leaves are parting, now the sun is shining! And you're in my arms so the planets are aligning!”

 

“You really like this song don’t you?”

 

“Yeah it’s my favorite!” He flapped his arms even more. “I listen to it all the time.” 

 

He pulled out the MP3 player and paused. “I should really give this back to Milo.”

 

“Do you want to learn how to play?” Cavendish asked.

 

“Yeah!”

 

“These are the middle tones.” He explained, pointing to the middle keys. Mikey pressed them all at once. He gestured to a few black keys, “The flat tones.”

 

Mikey pressed them too. “I like the piano Cavendish!”

 

Cavendish smiled a bit. He showed him a few more keys and tones and they sat there for about twenty minutes just playing small tunes. Until a small child tossing a ball hit the piano lid, slamming it down. Mikey panicked at the sound and fell off the bench.

 

“Are you all right?” Cavendish asked, putting his hand out to help him up.

 

“Y..yeah, th..thanks.” Mikey staggered up.

 

“Maybe we need a break from piano.”

 

Dakota came over, a basketball under his arm. “Hey Mikey! You want to try some basketball?”

 

Mikey rubbed his hands against the ball to feel the texture. “Yeah it looks fun. Can Cavendish come with?”

 

“Cavendish and basketball?” Dakota laughed. “I don’t think that would work out too well.”

 

Cavendish raised an eyebrow. “And why wouldn’t it?”

 

“Well you’re..you. You don’t really like the..sporty type.”

 

“Well neither do you.” Cavendish said, taking the ball from Dakota and gripping his messenger bag tightly under his other arm. “We’ll just have to see which one is the “sporty” one.”

 

Mikey grabbed Cavendish’s open hand as they headed to a gym that was nearly empty. Only a mom and her two children where in there, playing monkey in the middle.

 

Dakota took the ball again and dribbled it. “Ah, ah! Come on Cavendish, try and get the ball!” He dribbled it around him.

 

Cavendish looked at the ball in determination and managed to strike it out of his hands, sending it rolling down the gym. Mikey went after it and grabbed it before running back.

 

“You have to keep dribbling the ball.” Dakota explained. “Carrying it is traveling.”

 

Mikey blinked in confusion.

 

“...Did your dimension not have basketball?”   
  


“My dad mentioned it a few times, but I’ve never played it. I didn’t even know it was a sport until now.”

 

Dakota leaned down to his level. “All right, I’ll show you how to play. Bounce the ball on the ground, then hit it with your palm to keep it going.”

 

Mikey bounced the ball, then whacked it super hard, making it bounce away. He made a frustrated noise.

 

“No, no it’s okay. For your first try that was really good.” Dakota said as he gave him a small pat on the head. “Hey Cavendish, get the ball will ya!?”

 

Cavendish sighed. “Of course I will..”

 

He got the ball and started walking back.

 

“Hey you’re traveling!” Mikey teased.

 

Cavendish stopped and looked at the ball in his hands. “I suppose I am. But traveling  _ is  _ part of my job title.”

 

“But this ain’t your job.” Dakota said, grabbing the ball. “You’re just admitting now that I’m better at basketball.” He laughed as he went back to Mikey.

 

“ _ Traveling.”  _ Cavendish said with a smirk.

 

“Oh come on!” Dakota groaned.

 

“What? I’m just playing by your rules.” Cavendish said. “Although I am getting tired, maybe we should head back.”

 

“Naptime already Cavendish?” Dakota teased.

 

“Dakota…” 

 

“What I’m kidding!”

 

Mikey yawned.

 

“Besides the kid’s tired too.” Dakota said as he scooped him into his arms. “We really should head back.”

 

On their way back Mikey drifted off to sleep in Dakota’s arms.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 The Inner Workings of Balthazar Cavendish’s Mind**

 

“I get the bed this time.” Cavendish said once they got back to the office.

 

“Fine.” Dakota groaned. “But you have to share with Mikey.”

 

“Dakota please! Just give me the bed, I’m tired.”

 

“No, we’re not putting the kid on the floor.” Dakota said.

 

“All right, all right, fine!”

 

Dakota placed the already sleeping Mikey on the bed. Cavendish put the messenger bag with the orb inside and joined him. Cavendish scooted beside Mikey, trying to keep was much space as possible. He closed his eyes and got a few minutes of undisturbed sleep until he felt something clinging to him.

 

Cavendish quickly opened his eyes and saw Mikey hugging onto him as he slept peacefully. He tried to pry him off, but that only made him tighten his grip. Cavendish groaned lowly as he gave up and tried to fall back asleep.

 

He looked back at Mikey who was smiling widely in his sleep as he curled up onto Cavendish’s chest. He looked so innocent and at peace. He was sleeping in the same adorable way he’d seen Milo do once after a rather rough mission. However instead of being curled up on the tattered seats in the back of the time vehicle, he was cuddled up against Cavendish.

 

_ No! I can’t think about him this way. He’s not our Murphy,he’s only going to be here temporarily. _

 

It was no secret Cavendish was protective of Milo. Often times he and Dakota would place themselves in front of him on missions when danger was nearby and usually had him stick close to them at all times.

 

_ Maybe it’s because he looks like Murphy that my tired mind is thinking these things….Yes that must be it…. _

 

Cavendish wanted to protect Milo. He didn’t want him to go on anymore missions with them, but the boy had insisted, and now they were a pistachio slaying team.

  
  


_ If I can just fall back asleep it will stop. I just need to...... _

 

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Mikey mumbled sleepily into Cavendish’s side before drifting off again.

 

Cavendish wrapped his arms around the boy, pulling him closer.  _ Maybe Dakota’s right. Maybe I need to make Mikey’s stay here as comfortable as possible.  _

 

_ Yes that’s why am I feeling this. Why I am doing this. _

 

_ The only reason why. _

  
  



	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 Just Getting Started**

 

An hour later there was a knock on the door, startling Cavendish awake. Mikey whined and held on tighter. Dakota just snored louder and turned in his sleep.

 

“Ugh, who could that be?” Cavendish groaned tiredly.

 

The leg on Cavendish’s desk broke, sending papers flying everywhere.

 

“....Come in Murphy!”

 

“Hey Cavendish! Hey Dakota! Hey Mikey!” Milo greeted cheerfully. Zack, Melissa, and another person Mikey hadn’t met before stood in the doorway.

 

Mikey sat up and waved. “H..hi Milo!” He gave a small smile.

 

“School’s done so we’re going over to Melissa’s for band practice. You want to come?” Milo asked.

 

“Okay!” Mikey climbed over Cavendish who was half asleep again. They left the apartment. Dakota woke up slightly and saw the bed was only half occupied. He pushed Cavendish over and sleepily got into bed.

 

“Dakota…” Cavendish groaned, trying to push him away. “You take up more room than Mikey.”

 

Dakota hugged Cavendish. “Is that better?”

 

“Just let me sleep.” Cavendish closed his eyes and rested his head on Dakota’s chest.

 

“It’s been a while since we’ve done this  _ Balthy. _ ” Dakota laughed.

 

“Oh gee, I wonder why…” Cavendish was about to pull away, but Dakota hugged him to closer his chest. 

 

“I’m better than a pillow aren’t I,  _ Balthy _ ?”

 

“Stop calling me that. It wasn’t cute when we were dating, and it sure as hell isn’t cute now.”

 

“All right.. _ Cav _ .”

 

Cavendish let out a tired groan in reply making Dakota laugh. “Just get some sleep Cavendish.”

 

Cavendish closed his eyes and drifted off again.  _ You may be more comfortable than a pillow, but you are  _ **_not_ ** _ getting the satisfaction of me saying it…. _

  
  


“Who’s that?” Mikey asked Milo as he pointed at the other person who had joined them.

 

“Oh, that’s Mort. He plays drums” 

 

Mikey paused. “M..Mort?”

 

“Yeah, I’m Mort. Hi.”

 

Mikey shivered and let out a whimper.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Y..yeah..I..I’m fine. So uh, Milo, What do you play?”

 

“Accordion!” Milo said excitedly, pulling it out of his backpack.

 

“It’s got a little piano on it!” Mikey said excitedly. “Can I see?”

 

“Sure.” Milo let him hold it. 

 

Mikey hugged it to his chest and tapped the keys like Cavendish had shown him. The accordion let out a low sound, startling Mikey. He dropped it, breaking the casing. “I..I’m so sorry!” He whined taking a step back. “I..I..I didn’t mean to..to..”

 

Milo reached into his backpack and pulled out a second one. “Don’t worry I’m always prepared.”

 

They continued on, but Mikey was still frozen. “But..but..I..I b..broke it. Why aren’t you m..mad?”

 

“Why would he be mad? It’s not your fault.” Zack explained as he gripped his arm and pulled him along.

 

“But I’m the one who dropped it.”

 

“Because of Murphy’s Law. We can’t blame you for that.”

 

“I..I didn’t whisper the..the thing to st..stop it.”

 

Milo stopped. “The what?”   
  


“Y..you know! If you say ‘cease’ and ‘The Curse does not control me’ you can stop it.”

 

Milo frowned deeply and went over. “That’s not how Murphy’s Law works.” He put his hand on Mikey’s shoulder gently. “You can’t just stop it like that.”

 

“But my dad h..he’s done it before. I..it works!”

 

Milo shook his head. “No. If anything it’s just a placebo effect, but it’s no big deal. Don’t worry about Murphy’s Law, no one’s going to be mad at you for it.”

 

Mikey tried to calm his breathing. “O..okay. I’ll try.” Mikey’s stomach tied into several knots.  _ Cease...Cease! The Curse does not control me! Murphy’s Law does not control me! _

…..

_ Just Getting Started  _ gathered in Melissa’s basement to practice. Mikey sat down to watch them.

 

“We’re just doing instruments today right?” Melissa asked.

 

“Yeah we’re doing singing next week.” Milo said, helping set up. His legs got tangled in some wires and fell. Melissa knelt down and helped untie him. “Thanks Melissa.” He laughed a bit.

 

“No problem.” Melissa replied

 

_ How can he laugh that off so easily? I’d be so embarrassed!  _ Mikey hugged his knees, lost in thought.

 

Melissa strummed her bass guitar, joined soon by Zack on guitar, Mort on drums, and finally Milo on accordion. Mikey was fine with it at first, but eventually it got a little too loud for him. He covered his ears and wandered around the basement.

 

He found a place quiet enough and sat down, pressing his back against the door to Melissa’s Murphy’s Law room. He took out his fidget spinner and played with it. Under his breath he sung along with  _ Chop Away At My Heart. _

 

_ Just Getting Started  _ had just finished their first instrumental run through. 

 

“That went well!” Milo said excitedly, putting his accordion down.

 

“Yeah, nothing started on fire or anything.” Melissa said.

 

“That’s because I thought ahead.” Milo said, tapping his fist against an amp, causing a dense sound. “Reinforced with stucco.”

 

Milo tapped it a few more times. The amp crumbled into a pile of wire and sparking electronic parts. “Well at least it didn’t start on.....”

 

Fire.

 

“I got this.” Melissa said, grabbing a nearby fire extinguisher and dousing the flames out. 

 

“Sorry about the amp Melissa.”

 

“It’s fine. We just can’t practice with the amp for now.” She picked up her bass. “We’ll have to try acoustic I guess. Unless you have another amp in your backpack Milo.” 

 

Milo laughed. “Oh, Melissa. Even I couldn’t pull fitting  _ that  _ in here.” He patted his backpack gently.

 

Melissa looked around. “Hey, where’s Mikey?”

 

“He might have left because the sound was giving him sensory issues.” Milo said.

 

“Oh no.” Melissa sounded worried.

 

“What?”

 

“What if he found my ‘Murphy’s Law Room’? I don’t think I could explain it to him like I did to you. He’d think I hate Murphy’s Law or something! I don’t want to make him even more insecure about it!”

 

“Relax Melissa.” Zack said, gripping her shoulder. “I’ll go look for him, and if he found the room I’ll think of a way to cover for you. Okay?”

 

“O..okay Zack.” She sat down and started strumming at her bass to calm herself.

 

“Wait you have a Murphy’s Law room?”

 

“Be quiet Mort.” Melissa warned.

 

….

 

Zack rounded the corner of the basement and saw Mikey sitting against the door.

 

“There you are.” Zack said, relieved.

 

Mikey looked up. “Oh I..I didn’t know you were looking for me. I’m sorry, it just got too loud for me.”

 

Zack sat beside him, holding his guitar. “It’s okay. We were just worried.”

 

Mikey kicked his foot on the ground. “I’m sorry.” He said again, a little bit more quietly.

 

“No it’s okay.” Zack said. “Don’t worry about it.”

 

Mikey started mumbling song lyrics to himself. “ _ I know you’re pining, but every cloud has got a silver lining…” _

 

Recognizing the lyrics, Zack looked at him again. “Oh, you know that song?”

 

“Y..yeah.” Mikey picked at the fuzz on the carpeting. “Milo showed it to me.”

 

“Of course he did.” Zack laughed a bit.

 

Mikey was quiet for a moment before looking at Zack again. “I..I like your guitar.”

 

“Oh thanks. You want to hold it?”

 

“N..no. I don’t want to break it.”

 

“It’ll be fine, here.” Zack handed it to Mikey as if it were a baby.

 

Mikey strummed his fingers against the strings, playing a soft sound.  _ Cease...Cease...I am in control..The Curse does not control me..cease..Cease! Milo was wrong it does w.. _

 

One of the strings broke.

 

“S..see I did break it!” He whined, shoving it back into Zack’s arms

 

“What? No it’s just a string, I can replace it easily.” 

 

“O..oh I..I didn’t know.”

 

Zack frowned. “You haven’t really done a lot have you?”

 

Mikey shook his head. “N..no. There wasn’t really much to do inside the walls. My dad said most of the things there were from before the wall was put up.”

 

“...You want to go do some things you’ve never done?”

 

“R..really?”

 

“Yeah. I mean you’re kind of bumming me out with this stuff. You need at least some fun memories while you’re here.” Zack grabbed his hand. “Come on!”

 

“Wait, what about the others?”

 

“They’re still practicing, I doubt they’ll even notice we left.”

 

“Okay.” Mikey smiled softly before following Zack upstairs, then outside into Danville.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 Life, Man, Where Do We Begin**

 

Zack took Mikey into the city. Now being able to see it without being anxious, Mikey’s eyes widened in wonder. “This is so cool! And..and it’s always like this?”

 

“Yeah pretty much.”

 

“It’s wonderful here!” Mikey flapped his arms excitedly.  

 

“You hungry?” Zack asked.

 

“Yeah I haven’t eaten in a while.”

 

“You want to get ice cream?” 

 

Mikey blinked. “Ice..Cream?”

 

“Wait, you’ve never had ice cream?” Zack asked.

 

“N..no.” Mikey said.

 

Zack sensed his uncomfortableness and backed off. “It’s really good, I think you’ll like it.” He grabbed Mikey’s hand and lead him to a small ice cream shop.

 

Mikey got a banana split while Zack got chocolate in a cone. Zack had recommended the bowl which Milo usually got, to prevent dropping it.

 

Mikey got a small amount of ice cream on his spoon and took a small taste. “It’s really sweet. I like it.”

 

Zack smiled. “I knew you would.”

 

Mikey returned the smile. While distracted some chocolate syrup plattered onto his sweater. “Darn it!” He grabbed a wad of napkins and dabbed at the stain.

 

“That’s not gonna help.” Zack too him to the bathroom. He pulled the lever on the paper towel dispenser but nothing came out. “Huh it’s empty.” He went over to the other one and got the same result. “What are the odds of th..” He looked back at Mikey and stopped himself. “I got an idea.”

 

He went to one of the stalls and grabbed a wad of toilet paper. He put his hand under the faucet, trying to get the water to start. No matter how many times he pulled his hand in and out it wouldn’t start. “Ugh! Come on!”

“Let me try.” Mikey said, putting his hand under it. The pipes made gurgling sounds before bursting and soaking both of them.

 

The two of them rushed outside. Mikey started ringing out his sweater sleeves while whining.

 

“Well at least the stain’s out.” Zack said,  trying to lighten the mood. 

 

Mikey looked down to see the stain had been sprayed out. “O..oh yeah.” He laughed a bit. “But I’m soaking wet.”

 

“Oh, right...I got an idea.”

 

……

 

“Thanks for letting me borrow some clothes.” Mikey said, stroking the shirt’s soft fabric as he sat on the edge of Zack’s bed.

 

“It’s fine. Milo’s had to borrow clothes from me a few times...after going through all his extras.” Zack said. “He’s got like twenty pairs of clothes in his backpack.”

 

Mikey blinked. “T..Twenty?”

 

“Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a  _ little _ , but he’s really prepared.”

 

“Oh.” Mikey kicked his feet before looking up again. “Why?”

 

“You know, Murphy’s Law and all.” Zack said, sitting beside him.

 

“I..I don’t have one…” Mikey said, stimming with the blanket. “Wh..what else is in it?”

 

Zack shrugged. “Lots of stuff. Giant inflatable snowman, stuffed elephant, a trowel, an anchor...You know, the ‘necessities’.”

 

Mikey giggled. “That sure is a lot of random stuff.”

 

“Yeah, but it’s helped a lot. Maybe you should get one, it might help your anxiety.”

 

“I..I guess so but I..I don’t have one I can use…”

 

Zack went over to his closest and dug through it. He came back a few moments later with a small backpack with a yellow duck on it. “This was my second grade backpack.”

 

Mikey traced his fingers over the embroidery design on the front. “It’s cute, what is it?”

“It’s Ducky Momo. I liked him a lot when I was younger. I mean I still do, but I’ve been focused on other stuff.” Zack said.

 

“So it’s just a character?”

 

“Well he has a TV show for little kids....But I still watch it sometimes.”

 

“I don’t see why that’s a problem.” Mikey said, still tracing over the design. “I watched Stanley Spadowski’s Clubhouse until the UHF station we had was cut off by Norm Bots. I was...about nine then.”

 

Zack had many questions, but he stopped himself. “I’m glad you like the backpack. Milo puts pretty much everything he can in his.”

 

Mikey reached into the pockets of his soaking pants and pulled out the contents out. He put the fidget spinner in one of the pockets but paused before putting the MP3 player in. “I  _ really  _ need to give this back to Milo.” He put it in. “There! I’ll just keep putting stuff in it, like…”

 

He scanned the floor of Zack’s bedroom and spotted a straw wrapper. He picked it up. “Can I have this for my backpack?”

 

“Uh..sure?”

 

“Thanks!” Mikey stuck it in his backpack.

 

Outside the window the sun was starting to set. “Oh it's getting late. Want me to take you home?”

 

“Oh yeah. I didn’t notice how long we were gone.”

 

Zack grabbed his hand and lead him outside. “You’re staying with Milo right?”

 

“Y..yeah.” Mikey lied, unsure how to explain his current living situation.  _ I can head back to the office after he drops me off. I.. _

 

“Mikey!”

 

Mikey and Zack turned around to see Cavendish storming towards him. 

 

“C..Cavendish?” Mikey squeaked in surprise.

 

Cavendish gripped his arm tightly. “Do you realize we’ve been looking all over for you!?”

 

“I..I..” Mikey squeaked again. 

 

“Uh,..Cavendish...sir?” Zack said awkwardly.

 

Cavendish faced him and softened slightly. “Oh hello, Zack. I’m sorry you had to be apart of this confrontation.”

 

“N..no. We left together. It’s my fault too.”

 

Mikey gripped Zack’s hand again. Cavendish looked annoyed.  “Oh I see...Well, I can’t really do anything about you. Mikey on the other hand…” He grabbed his arm again, “We have some talking to do…”

 

“Bye.” Mikey whined as he was dragged off.

 

“..Bye..” Zack said.

 

….

 

“You’re already in enough danger as is, and you think running off without telling someone first is okay!?”

 

“I..I was with Zack so I..I though that..”

 

“You should have at least told Murphy where you were going!”

 

“But I...I..I’m sorry.”

 

“Well you should be. You had no right to run off like tha......What are you wearing?” Cavendish asked seriously.

 

“I um…”

 

“What are you wearing!?”

 

“Z..Zack l..let me borrow s..some c..clothes..f..from...from h..him..M..mine got all w..wet.”

 

“Well as soon as we get back you’re changing!”

 

“O..okay.” Mikey whimpered out.

 

Cavendish just stayed quiet until they made it back to the office where Milo and Dakota were waiting nervously.

 

“Found him.” Cavendish said.

 

“Mikey!” Milo yelled in relief, running over and pulling him into a hug. “You’re okay!”

 

Mikey returned the hug. “H..hey Milo. Yeah I’m f..fine.”

 

“Where’d you go kid?” Dakota asked worriedly.

 

“I..I was with Z..Zack. I..I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. I’m sorry. I w..won’t do it again.”

 

“I know you won’t.” Cavendish said. “I’m putting you under house arrest.”

 

“What!?” Mikey, Milo, and Dakota said in a shocked unison.

 

“You heard me!” Cavendish snapped. “I shouldn't have let you out of here in the first place, it’s far too dangerous!”

 

“But..but nothing bad happened!” Mikey protested. “I’m fine!”

 

Cavendish paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. He exhaled harshly and glared at him. “Not. You.”

 

Mikey slinked back, behind Dakota.

 

“Cavendish, what the hell!?” Dakota yelled as he put his arm around Mikey’s shoulder in comfort. 

 

“What, do _you_ want to be imprisoned!?”

 

“No, but I also don’t want to upset the kid!”

 

“Why does it matter!? This is only a temporary situation! He’s not our Milo!”

 

_ You’re not Milo, you’re four!  _ Elliot..2’s words rang loudly through Mikey’s ears. He mumbled something under his breath shakily, making Cavendish look over.

 

“What did you say?” Cavendish demanded angrily.

 

“I said, I’m _ not _ Milo!” Mikey repeated louder before storming out of the office building.

 

“Way to go  _ Balthy.”  _ Dakota said, glaring.

 

Cavendish frowned. “But I..I..I didn’t mean to..”

 

Milo followed Mikey outside where he saw him sitting beside the door, holding his knees to his chest. He was breathing heavily with tears on his cheeks. Milo pulled him into a tight hug.

 

“It’s okay Mikey.” Milo soothed, stroking his back. “It’s okay…”

 

“He’s right.” He whined. “I..I’m just you! I’m just a scared, and..anxious, w..worse, u..unstable version of you!”

 

“No, you’re not.” Milo said. “You’re not a worse version of me, you’re not me. It’s okay to be anxious and scared. That’s not bad…..”

 

Mikey clung tighter and sniffled. It startled drizzling and he snuggled closer to Milo. 

 

“Th..thank you Milo…”

 

They were quiet for a bit until Mikey reached into the pocket of the Ducky Momo backpack and fished out the MP3 player. “Here. I..I forgot to give this back earlier.”

 

“Ah you can keep it.” Milo said. “Music’s really calming. Besides I mainly use my phone for music, see?” He took out his phone and showed him.

 

“Oooo cool!” Mikey said.

 

“Yeah!” Milo smiled and started playing a game on it.

 

Mikey decided to turn on the MP3 player and listen to music. He chose  _ Chop Away At My Heart  _ and started flapping his arms.

 

Milo joined in and the two sang together. Mikey knew it wouldn’t be fun to be locked in the office all day, but he was glad he at least had music, and Milo, at his side.

  
  
  



	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 Notes and Special Interests**

 

The next day Mikey was bored. He was wearing another sweater Dakota had laying around that was dark purple and itchy. He’d wanted too keep wearing Zack’s clothes, but Cavendish wouldn’t allow it.

 

Dakota was trying his best to keep Mikey entertained. They sat on either end of the bed, both holding cards.

 

“Got any..threes?” Dakota asked.

 

Mikey sighed and handed over all his cards. 

 

“Wow. I’ve never won in one turn before.” Dakota said. 

 

Mikey looked away. “Right..”

 

“Want to play again?”

 

**No.** Mikey signed

 

“What do you want to do?”

 

Mikey shrugged. He looked up to see Cavendish at his desk, working on the orb diligently.  He felt Mikey’s stare and looked up. He glared slightly until Mikey squeaked in fear and looked away, clinging to Dakota.

 

“You still upset kid?” Dakota asked.

 

**Yes**

 

“Why don’t we mess with Cavendish?” Dakota whispered.

 

**Okay**

 

While Cavendish was distracted, Dakota snuck behind him. He tried to stifle his laughter before putting both of his palms to his mouth and blowing loudly. Cavendish’s face turned beet red in embarrassment before turning around to see Dakota. Mikey started laughing loudly.

 

“Vincent!”

 

“My name’s not Vincent!” Dakota mocked.

 

Cavendish looked annoyed. “Dakota you know how I feel about..that.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, that whole, ‘personal matter’ thingy.” Dakota sighed. “It’s not really as big of a deal as you make it.”

 

“This is exactly why we broke up.” He rolled his eyes.

 

“No, I’m pretty sure we didn’t break up because you’re too much of a wimp to rip one in front of me.”

 

“You did it enough for both of us.” 

 

Dakota pretended to look offended before blowing on his hands again.

 

“Dakota! Enough!”

 

Dakota laughed as he headed back to the bed and sat by Mikey. 

 

Mikey giggled. “That was great dad!”

 

“Yeah!” Dakota laughed before pausing. “Wait did you just call me..dad?”

 

Mikey panicked. “N..no d..dad..kota..dadkota..Dakota!” He whimpered nervously. “I..I mean..I..I’m s..s..sorry..I..I..”

 

Dakota frowned. “No, no it’s okay kid.” He pulled Mikey into a hug. “It was kind of cute actually, I think I like it.” 

 

“Don’t encourage him.” Cavendish said. “He’s only going to be here temporarily.”

 

Dakota frowned and blew on his hands again. Cavendish groaned and kept working on the orb.

 

….

 

A few hours later there was a knock on the door.

 

“Who’s there?” Cavendish asked.

 

“It’s me, Milo!” 

 

“Come in Murphy.”

 

Milo came in and went over to Mikey. “Hey! How are you feeling?” He asked gently.

 

“I..I’m fine.” Mikey said. “D..dad and I played cards.”

 

“Dad?” Milo asked, confused.

 

“It’s me!” Dakota said raising his hand excitedly. “I’m the dad!”

 

“No you’re not!” Cavendish said. “Stop saying that you’re his fath..”

 

Dakota blew on his hands. Cavendish groaned and decided to focus on the orb.

 

“I got something for you.” Milo said, digging into his backpack and handing Mikey a note. “Zack told me to give this to you.”

 

Mikey read it:

 

**I’m sorry about yesterday, I hope you’re not in too much trouble.**

 

**-Zack**

 

“If I write a letter back can you give it to him?” Mikey asked.

 

“Sure!” 

 

Mikey wrote a letter back:

 

**It’s okay, it’s not your fault.**

 

**-Milo**

 

Mikey read it over again and panicked when he reread the signature. He grabbed the pen and quickly scribbled it out before rewriting his name as  **Mikey.** _ I hope he doesn’t question why my signature is crossed out…. _

  
  
  


He folded the lined paper over and handed it to Milo who put it in his backpack.

 

“Thanks.”   
  


“No problem! Oh I have something else to show you.” Milo said, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a VHS in a tattered sleeve. 

 

“What’s that?” Mikey asked.

 

“It’s a VHS tape. It was before DVDs.”

 

Mikey blinked. “I know what a VHS is. I mean what’s on it.”  _ What’s a DVD? _

 

“It’s the first edition print of the the first Krill Hunter movie from 1987!” Milo said excitedly. “Starring the best actor ever, Tobias Trollhammer! It’s one of my special interests.”

 

“Special interest?” Mikey asked.

 

“Yeah, it’s another Autism thing. It’s something you’re really passionate about. I really like Krill Hunter, Doctor Zone, and vintage firetrucks.”

 

“I like animals and the 70s.” Dakota added.

 

“And Sara likes Doctor Zone too.” Milo said. “Oh, and my mom loves buildings and architecture!”

 

“Well...I like Stanley Spadowski’s Clubhouse and..” He looked at his backpack. “And Ducky Momo.”

 

“Maybe you’ll like Krill Hunter.” Milo said.

 

“M..maybe.”

 

“Guess who has a VCR!” Dakota said, pulling one out of a box. “And for the authentic experience.” He pulled a CRT TV out of another box. “Hey Cavendish, you want to join us!?’

 

“No, I’m busy trying to make sure we don’t go to  _ prison _ !” Cavendish spat.

 

Dakota shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He hooked up the tv and VCR, then inserted the movie.

 

“I’m glad you had one of those.” Milo said.

 

“I have a lot of old stuff, you know time travel and all. I also got a Laserdisc player, Betamax player, Tape Player, an 8 Track, Zune. You know all the obsolete stuff.”

 

Milo, Dakota and Mikey sat close together in front of the small screen. The title appeared on the screen in big, bold, red letters:  **Krill Hunter: The First Movie**

 

“The first movie?” Dakota asked. “How did they know this was going to do well for a sequel?”

 

Milo shrugged. “I guess they knew it was going to be popular.”

 

They popped the movie into the VCR. 

 

The FBI warning came on:

 

**Warning**

 

_ Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures, video tapes, video discs, screenshots of the film, plot summaries, mentioning any plot elements, and writing the title of the motion picture. _

 

_ Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI whose only job is copyright infringement cases. That’s literally all they do. And it may constitute a felony with a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison literally made up of only people who made illegal videotape duplicates and\or a $250,000 fine. Piracy is the worst crime ever! Nothing is worse, and it’s the only crime we care about. So do whatever you want, just don’t pirate videotapes you punk! _

 

_ And remember, we’re here to protect you! _

 

Various home video logos flashed before the film finally started.

 

Cavendish occasionally looked up to see what was going on in the movie out of sheer curiosity. Murphy’s Law took over and Cavendish yelped when a small shock touched his hand.

 

“Hey Cavendish, you scared?” Dakota laughed. “We’re not even at a scary part!”

 

“No, I was shocked.”

 

“Shocked, scared, same thing.”

 

“No, not  _ that  _ kind of shocked. Electrical shock.”

 

“Oh.” Dakota paused. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yes, I’m fine.” Cavendish replied flatly. “If I wasn’t I’d be on the floor. Possibly dead.”

 

“And this time I wouldn’t go back to save you.” Dakota grumbled under his breath.

 

“What did you say?” Cavendish asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Nothing, nothing! Just keep working on the orb you’re so damn determined to fix.”

 

Cavendish exhaled sharply and kept working. 

 

At the end of the movie Mikey flapped his arms more and made excited noises. “I loved it!”

 

“Great! I can bring the second one tomorrow if you want.”

 

Mikey flapped faster. “Yeah!”

 

Milo smiled and headed to the door. “I’ll see ya tomorrow!”

 

“Oh, Milo! Don’t forget to give Zack my note!”

 

“I won’t! Don’t worry!” Milo walked out the door, tripping on the way.

 

Mikey went back on the bed and curled up. He took the MP3 player out of the Ducky Momo backpack’s side pocket and popped in the earbuds. He put on  _ Chop Away At My Heart  _ and closed his eyes, just trying to bind time until Milo came back tomorrow.

  
  



	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 What Connects Us**

 

Mikey was excited all the next day for Milo to come over. He spent of of the day listening to music until Milo knocked on the door. 

 

“Come in Murphy.” Cavendish said.

 

“Milo!” Mikey said excitedly, going over for a hug. Milo was wearing a medium length baby blue dress. 

 

“Hey Mikey!” Milo hugged tightly. 

 

“I like your dress.” Mikey said.

 

“Thanks! I’m genderfluid and I’m a girl today.”

 

“Oh, okay!” Mikey snuggled against her. “Sometimes I’m a girl too...I think I’m genderfluid too.”

 

Milo smiled. “You can borrow some feminine clothes from me when you’re a girl.”

 

“Thank you.” He hugged closer and Milo patted his back.

 

“You ready to see the second Krill Hunter?  _ Krill Hunter II: This Time It’s Personshell _ .” Milo asked.

 

Mikey flapped his arms excitedly. “Yeah!”

 

“All right! Oh, I almost forgot!” Milo took off her backpack and reached inside. She handed over a folded piece of paper. “Here, it’s another note from Zack.”

 

Mikey opened it excitedly:

 

**Are you sure? Milo said you got grounded**

 

**-Zack**

 

_ Good, he didn’t question why I crossed out my signature. I just have to be more careful. _

 

Mikey wrote a reply:

 

**No it’s fine, I promise.**

 

**-Mikey**

 

He gave it to Milo who put it in her backpack. 

 

“Hey kid.” Dakota ruffled Milo’s hair in greeting. “You bring the movie?”

 

Milo held up the VHS proudly. “Yep.”

 

“Hey Cavendish, you want to stop being butthurt and join us?!” Dakota called.

 

Cavendish stopped working on the orb for a second and looked at his hands, cut and a bit bloody. They ached badly.  _ Maybe a break would help… _

 

“Yes, I’ll join today.” Cavendish said as he washed oil and other gunk off of his hands. “Murphy. Do you have any lotion?”

 

“Here you go.” Milo said, handing him a small bottle.

 

Cavendish lathered some of it on his hands and rubbed it in. He paused and turned to Milo. “What  _ is _ this?”

 

“It’s lotion.” Milo said, confused. She sniffed the air and took the bottle. “Oh oops. It’s frosting.”

 

Dakota burst out laughing, getting a glare from Cavendish in reply.

 

“It’s not funny Dakota!”

 

“It kind of is!” He laughed.

 

“Well look on the brightside!” Milo said cheerfully. “The rosemary extract in it will help your hands.”

 

“I suppose so.” Although Cavendish wasn’t too convinced.

 

They popped in the movie and began. As the opening titles came on Mikey flapped his arms and made excited noises.

 

_ I suppose this isn’t too bad  _ Cavendish thought.  _ Although a little too violent for my taste. _

  
  


**_Tobias climbed over a barbed wire fence that cut into his hands. Once he got over he ran over to a man, laying on the ground, bleeding profusely. “No! No!”_ **

 

**_Tobias started tearing off pieces of his clothes and wrapping his partner’s injuries._ **

**_His partner coughed harshly. “I..it’s too l..late for m..me….”_ **

**_“No! You’re not dying! Not on my watch!” Tobias yelled, tears welling in his eyes. He_ **

**_tried in desperation to clot the blood. “Stay with me! Don’t you dare die on me!”_ **

 

**_He coughed as he reached a shaky hand to his face. “It’s okay...b..brother.” He gave a small sincere smile before falling limp in Tobias’ arms._ **

  
  


**_Tobias looked up to the sky and snarled. “I’ll kill all the krill I can. I will avenge you! I won’t be a failure..not again!” He stroked his partner’s cheek.“Not...again…”_ **

 

Everyone in the room had a different reaction…


	13. Chapter 13

 

**Chapter 13 Anything For Your Partner**

 

Cavendish was angrily shaking:

 

**_No! You’re not dying! Not on my watch!_ **

 

_ Cavendish walked proudly through the agency greeting everyone with a small nod and a simple “Hello.” _

 

_ “Good Morning Savannah!” Cavendish greeted. “How has your day been?” _

 

_ “Fine. My boyfriend and I are heading out for lunch now. You?” _

 

_ “I’ve got a mission actually.” Cavendish said. “I’m meeting my partner in the garage. _

 

_ “Good luck then.” Savannah smiled before heading off. _

 

_ Cavendish and his partner Gabriel got into their fancy red, convertible time vehicle.  _

 

_ “So, what are we up to today?” Gabriel asked, a huge smile on his face. His teeth were brilliantly white, his dark brown eyes sparkling, and his dark brown hair slicked back. _

 

_ Cavendish unfolded the paper. “We have to prevent a fire at a local elementary school.” _

 

_ “Oh dang! Does it say how it started?” _

 

_ Cavendish scanned the paper again. “No, not anything I can see.” _

 

_ “Darn.” He started picking at his sleeve. “I guess we’ll have to do a little detective work, ay Basil?” He let out a small laugh and elbowed his side playfully. _

 

_ Cavendish let out a small chuckle. “I suppose we will.” _

 

_ They pulled up to the school, about twenty minutes before the fire started. They stayed parked in front and scanned the courtyard for anything that could have started the fire, _

 

_ “Hmm, nothing here. Should we check inside?” Cavendish asked, turning to Gabriel. _

 

_ Gabriel stopped playing with the aglet on his shoe and looked up. “Huh? Oh, yeah. How about you check inside and I check the back?” _

  
  


_ “Good idea. Meet me back here in half an hour.” _

 

_ Gabriel gave him a finger gun and a small wink. “You got it, partner.” _

 

_ The two got out of the time vehicle and went their separate ways. Cavendish went to the front office while Gabriel went to the playground. _

 

_ Gabriel looked around the playground, looking for any fire hazards. While he couldn’t see any at first, his attention was drawn to a small boy in a purple sweater vest, who was staring at something curiously on the ground. _

 

_ Worried, Gabriel went over. “Uh, excuse me, little boy?” _

 

_ The child’s eyes widened in fear as he took a step back. _

 

_ “No, no it’s okay. I was just wondering what you were looking at.” _

 

_ “This thing.” He pointed to a small, white matchbook laying in the grass. Gabriel picked it up. _

 

_ “You shouldn’t play with these things, okay? Something could have gone very wrong.” _

 

_ The kid shrugged. “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong...around me.” _

 

_ Gabriel frowned. “That’s kind of dark isn’t it?” _

 

_ “Not really.” The kid replied cheerfully before skipping off. _

 

_ Gabriel was confused, but shrugged it off.  _ **_Well I have ten minutes before I’m supposed to meet up with Balthazar. Maybe I should just wait for him outside the front._ **

 

_ Gabriel went to the front of the school and leaned against the flagpole. Eight minutes later the bell rang, signaling the end of recess. The kids all filed inside. _

 

_ Gabriel waited a few more minutes until Cavendish came out. _

 

_ “It looks like we’ve done it!” Cavendish said excitedly. “I’m assuming you found the source of the fire?” _

 

_ “Yep.” Gabriel smirked and took the matchbook out of his pocket and handing it to his partner. _

 

_ “Perfect! I guess we can call Mr Block and..” _

 

_ “Balthazar, look out!” Gabriel yelled. _

 

_ Cavendish looked up and saw the flagpole had come off of it’s bolts and was falling towards him. Being frozen in fear and unable to move, Gabriel had to push him out of the way, taking the entire weight of the pole on himself. _

 

_ Cavendish tumbled on the ground. He sat up, breathing heavily. “That was close...Thank you Gabriel….Gabriel? Gabr..” He stopped mid word when he saw his partner under the flagpole, a pool of blood around him. “N..no! Gabriel!” _

 

_ Cavendish crawled over on his hands and knees, then gripped his partners chin in his hand. “N..no...Gabriel..It’s okay..we..we need to get you out of here. We need to get back to HQ and...and...we’ll get you help.” _

 

_ Cavendish started crying and breathing heavily. _

 

_ “B..B..Balthazar...I...I..I can’t feel anything..” Gabriel stuttered out. _

 

_ “N..no..You’re not dying on me!” Cavendish yelled as if it were a command. “Stay with me!” _

 

_ “I..I c..c..can’t…” He whimpered out. _

 

_ Cavendish tried in vain to stop the bleeding with his hands. “Yes you can! Stay with me! Damn it, stay with me!” _

 

_ “G..g..good bye...Baltha...zar..” Gabriel went wimp. _

_   
_ _ “Gabriel? Gabriel!” Cavendish pushed him. “Come on! Stay with me! You’re not going to die...You’re not going to...die…” _

 

_ Cavendish shuddered heavily. He shakily took out his communicator and dialed his boss. _

 

_ “Cavendish!” Mr Block greeted. “Have you and Gabriel completed your mi.....Are you okay?” _

 

_ “Gabriel...” Cavendish whimpered out. He fell to his side, holding the communicator only inches from his body. “Bl..blood..so much..blood…” _

 

_ “Oh God, are you injured?” Mr Block asked, eyes widened in horror. _

 

_ Cavendish just started crying. “Blood..blood..Gabriel...blood..” _

 

_ “Just...Just stay put, I’ll send someone to come get you.” Mr Block said. _

 

_ “Blood..blood..” Cavendish closed his eyes and blacked out. _

 

_ ……. _

 

_ Cavendish was awoken by a tap on his side. He opened his eyes and looked up. Through his blurred vision he could only see blobs of yellow, red, and orange. _

 

_ “Hey, uh...are you… Balthazar Cavendish?” _

 

_ Cavendish whimpered but managed to sign  _ **_Yes,_ ** _ grateful for the required American Sign Language training. _

 

_ “How bad are you hurt?” The man knelt in front of him. _

 

_ Cavendish’s eyes focused and he could finally see who it was. It was a  man with curly brown hair, orange tinted sunglasses, and an orange..yellow and red jumpsuit. He’d seen him a few times at the agency passing by, but he hadn’t bothered to learn his name or anything else about him. Except for him being Savannah’s boyfriend that is. _

 

**_I’m okay_ **

 

_ He frowned. “You sure? You’re covered in blood and on the ground.” _

 

_ Cavendish whined and shakily pointed towards the flagpole. The other looked over and stared, wide eyed. “Oh...oh God…” He turned back to Cavendish. “Oh, that..that means you’re having a panic attack, aren’t you?” _

 

**_Yes_ **

 

_ Cavendish hated being so vulnerable, especially in front of someone who was practically a stranger. _

 

_ “Let’s get you back to the future.” He said gently, grabbing onto Cavendish’s arms. He got up shakily and leaned on the other for support. He put his in the back of another time vehicle and laid him down on the seat, buckling him in. _

 

**_Car_ **

 

_ “Huh? Oh, yeah. Mr Block’s going to send to someone else to get it later.” _

 

**_Body_ **

 

_ He frowned. “The cops have to deal with that, it’s not really part of the time travel jurisdiction. I mean we’d do a better job than them, anyone would actually, but..we’re not really in charge there…” _

 

_ Cavendish closed his eyes tightly, trying to stop himself from vomiting all over the floor. _

 

_ “My name’s Vinnie.” _

 

**_Thank you_ **

 

_ “No problem.” He started the car and drove off.  _

 

_ The bumpiness of the ride calmed Cavendish, allowing him to lull off to sleep. _

 

_ …… _

 

_ Cavendish was once again awoken by a tap to the side.  _

 

_ “Hey, do you need us to get the gurney?” Vinnie asked. _

 

_ Cavendish shook his head. He unbuckled and tried to walk by himself, but he stumbled. Vinnie grabbed him and he regained his balance. “Easy, easy. I told Mr Block what happened. He still wants you to go to the medical bay.” _

 

**_Why?_ **

 

_ “Why? You can barely walk and you’re non verbal. I think it’s a good call for you to go there.” _

 

_ “I..I..I’m f..f..fi..fine..” Cavendish forced himself to speak. _

 

_ “No you aren’t.” Vinnie said, tightening his grip on him. “They need to check you over anyway.” _

 

_ Cavendish nodded and let Vinnie lead him to the medical bay. As soon as they arrived a medical personal cleaned up Cavendish and got him in clean hospital robes before putting him in bed.  _

 

_ Once he was in, Cavendish grabbed the trash can that was nearby and vomited.  _

 

_ “See, it’s good we brought you in.” _

 

_ Cavendish looked over to see Vinnie standing in the doorway. _

 

_ “V..Vinnie? Wh..what are you d..doing here?” He groaned.  _ **_He’s seen me vulnerable_ ** _ and  _ **_he’s seen me vomit...great…_ **

 

_ “I just wanted to check up on ya.” _

 

_ “I’m fine…” _

 

_ “Mr Block’s coming in later too.” _

 

_ “Okay…” Cavendish paused for a moment. “How’s… How’s Savannah doing?” _

 

_ Vinnie frowned. “She’s not taking it too well. Mr Block’s giving her some time off. I was actually just on my way to go check on her.” _

 

_ “I feel so..bad...I hurt her..” _

 

_ Vinnie shook his head. “It’s not your fault.” _

 

_ “B..but if I w..wasn’t in the w..way...I..I.” He vomited again. _

 

_ “Just try to rest a bit, all right?” _

 

_ “...Right…” Cavendish drifted off right away. _

 

_ …….. _

 

_ After a few days in the hospital ward Cavendish was deemed well enough to return to work, mentally and physically. He’d been called to Mr Block’s office and was a nervous wreck.  _ **_He’s going to fire me, isn’t he? He knows I’m responsible for Gabriel’s death!_ **

 

_ “Cavendish, sit down.” Mr Block said. _

 

_ Cavendish gulped and shakily took a seat in a chair in front of his desk. _

 

_ “We need to talk about your partner situation.” _

 

_ Cavendish gripped this sides of the chair so tightly his knuckles turned white. “My p..partner situation?” _

 

_ “You know all agents, unless under certain circumstances, are to have a partner at all times.” _

 

_ “....But I don’t…” Cavendish said, emotionless.  _

 

_ “That’s why we’re assigning you a new one.” _

 

_ He blinked. “N..new partner?” _

 

_ “Come in Dakota!” Mr Block called. _

 

_ Cavendish looked at the doorway and saw his new partner. “Vinnie?” _

 

_ “Hey, looks like we’re partners now!” Vinnie said, happily. _

 

_ Cavendish turned back to Mr Block. “But..but…” _

 

_ “He’s the only other agent without a partner.” Mr Block said. _

 

_ Vinnie sat in the chair beside him. He crossed his leg over his other one and rested his arms fully on the armrests, relaxing. _

 

_ “Here’s your first mission.” Mr Block said, handing them a piece of paper.  _

 

_ “Great!” Vinnie said. He grabbed onto Cavendish’s arm. “Come on, let’s go! I haven’t had a mission in  _ **_ages_ ** _!” _

 

_ Cavendish sighed a bit but nodded. “Right….let’s go…” _

 

_ On the way out they passed by another pair of agents, Brick and Savannah. Savannah froze in place before turning towards them. “You!” _

 

_ Cavendish and Vinnie faced them. Savannah’s fists were clenched and shaking, a snarl on her face. She stomped towards him. “I’m surprised they didn’t get rid of you, you...you murderer!” _

 

_ Cavendish shivered harshly. “S..Savannah...I..I’m so t..terribly sorry. I..I didn’t mean to..I..I never wanted…” _

 

_ She slapped him across the face. “My brother’s dead because of you! Because of your incompetence!” _

 

_ “Hey, leave him alone Savannah!” Vinnie yelled. _

 

_ Savannah was quiet for a moment in shock, before glaring at him harshly. “I thought you’d be on my side on this Vin!” _

 

_ “Hey Savvy, I’m not on anyone’s side here! I’m just saying you can’t blame him for an accident! He literally could not control what happened!” _

 

_ Savannah glared even deeper. “You better be careful Vinnie Dakota. Cavendish might start a record for most partners assigned to one agent.” _

 

_ She went back to Brick, her heels clicking loudly on the tile as she left. _

 

_ Vinnie frowned and looked at Cavendish. “You okay?” _

 

_ “I..I’m fine...are..are you okay?” _

 

_ Vinnie shrugged. “Yeah. I’ll have to talk to Sav about us later. We should just go.” _

 

_ They went to the garage and to Cavendish’s time vehicle.  _

 

_ “Hey Balthazar, you okay with me driving?” _

 

_ Cavendish froze.  _ **_Balthazar...Balthazar...Gabriel…_ **

 

_ “Could you...Could you call me Cavendish?” He asked. _

 

_ “Sure why not. If we’re doing the last name thing, just call me Dakota then.” _

 

_ “All right then, Dakota.” He nodded. “And I’d rather drive. It is my time vehicle after all.” _

 

_ “Ours.” _

 

_ “I beg your pardon?” _

 

_ “It’s  _ **_ours_ ** _. We’re partners now, remember?” _

 

_ “Right.” He bit his lip nervously. “I’d just prefer to drive if that’s all right.” _

 

_ Dakota shrugged. “All right.” He got into the passenger seat and put his feet on top of the dashboard. _

 

_ “No! Feet off!” Cavendish said once he got in the car. _

 

_ “Fine, geez. You don’t have to yell.” Dakota grumbled, putting his feet down. _

 

_ Cavendish tried to start the time vehicle, but it sputtered and spat. He groaned and turned the key harder. _

 

_ “You’re flooding it.” Dakota pointed out. _

 

_ “I am  _ **_not_ ** _ flooding it!” Cavendish argued. _

 

_ “Yes, yes you are.” Dakota rolled his eyes. _

 

_ Cavendish turned the key again and it started. “Finally.” _

 

_ After driving in silence for a few moments Dakota turned on the radio to a classics station. _

**_But every cloud has a silver lining_ **

 

_ “Oh I love this song!” Dakota squealed excitedly before joining in. “Now the sun is shining! And you’re in my arms, so the planets are aligning!” He looked over at Cavendish. “What? You’re not a fan of The Lumberzacks?” _

 

_ “I personally prefer The Lumbermaxes’ _ **_Saw Away At My Heart_ ** _.” He grumbled. _

 

_ “Really?” Dakota asked, surprised. “I mean it’s an inferior cover in my opinion. Max’s voice isn’t as smooth as Zacks’. Honestly the whole band stopped being good when he left. I think that he was the only good mem..” _

 

_ “I was being sarcastic.” _

 

_ “Oh, phew! So you like this one more?” _

 

_ “No. I like neither.” _

 

_ “Oh.” Dakota said.  _

 

_ “I’m not really into this 2010s music.” Cavendish said, changing to the  _ **_Classic Classics_ ** _ station. _

 

**_I should've known from how I felt when we were together. And even more when we were apart. You tiptoed in and you got under my skin. You snuck your way right into my h-_ **

 

_ Dakota turned off the radio. “Ugh! I  _ **_hate_ ** _ Love H _ _ ändel! They just don’t have...” He twirled his hand around as he tried to think of the right word. “They ain’t got rhythm is what I mean.” _

 

_ “If we can’t decide on a music station we might as well keep it off.” Cavendish suggested. _

 

_ “Okay, whatever.” Dakota said, shrugging. _

 

_ They were silent again. “Hey uh, did we ever even look at our mission paper?” Dakota asked _

 

_ “Oh, no, we didn’t. Why don’t you read it?” _


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 Failure To Launch**

 

Dakota shuddered harshly:

 

**_I won’t be a failure..not again!_ **

 

_ “It says we have to go back to the prehistoric times and stop a rock avalanche in an area so it can be used for real estate in the future.” _

 

_ “I see.” Cavendish said.  _

 

_ “We just need to shoot it with the gun in back. it will blast those falling rocks to smithereens!” _

 

_ “Where do I need to go?” _

 

_ Dakota read the location and date out loud. Cavendish set the time period and went off.  _

 

_ They arrived in a barren rocky landscape, millions of years before grass existed. It was night and both moons glowed brightly alongside the stars that sparkled through the sky. _

 

_ “I think our target is right…” Cavendish squinted as he scanned the landscape, before pointing to a pile of rocks piled high above a valley. “There!” _

 

_ “Great.” Dakota said, grabbing the gun from the back of the car and taking aim. “We blast them, report to Mr Block and get our next m..” _

 

_ Dakota  accidentally hit the shoot button on the canon. The shot missed the rocks and instead hit one of the moons, causing a large shower of dust in the atmosphere. “Oops…” _

 

_ “Oops!? You blow up one of our moons and all you can say is  _ **_oops!?_ ** _ ” _

 

_ “Oopsie Daisy...?” _

 

_ Cavendish rested his face him palm and groaned deeply. _

 

_ “Hey, what am I supposed to say? Besides, we still got one left.” _

 

_ “Just..give me the gun..” Cavendish said, putting his hand out. Dakota handed it over and Cavendish took aim. He shoot the pile of rocks, crumbling them instantly. “There. Now we can go.” _

 

_ They headed back to The Bearu of Time Travel. When they went inside they were met by glares from all the other agents. _

 

_ “Uh..Hello?” Cavendish said anxiously. _

 

_ “Cavendish! Dakota!” Mr Block’s voice boomed down the halls.  _

 

_ They looked at each other nervously.  _

 

_ “Maybe he’s yelling in excitement and he’s going to promote us for doing a good job.” Dakota said nervously. Cavendish glared at him. “Or not….” _

 

_ They walked into Mr Block’s office and stopped in the doorway. _

 

_ “H..h..hello s..s..sir…” Cavendish stuttered out. _

 

_ “You know what’s funny?” Mr Block asked. _

 

_ “Er..What sir?” Cavendish asked, uncomfortably.  _

 

_ “Before you left, there were two moons.” Mr Block laughed. “But now...now… _ **_There’s only one!_ ** _ ” _

 

_ “Uh a..about that sir...I..” _

 

_ “You two are in big trouble!” _

 

_ “You’re….Y..You’re n..not going to f..f..fire us..ar..are you?” Cavendish asked, fear in his voice. _

 

_ “I thought about it.” Mr Block said. “But no. As stupid of a thing you two have done, it wasn’t enough to warrant killing you.” _

 

_ “Neither was murdering my brother apparently.” _

 

_ The three looked over at the doorway. _

 

_ “Savannah, this doesn’t concern you!” Mr Block said angrily. “Get back to work!” _

 

_ “Fine, but don’t come crying to me when Dakota’s gone.” She walked off. _

 

_ Cavendish breathed heavily in anxiety. Dakota put his hand on his back in comfort.  _

 

_ “Instead I’m re assigning you to a job not even you two  _ **_failures_ ** _ of agents could mess up!” _

 

_ The word burned both of them, but especially Dakota, who was praised heavily for preventing The Mississippi Purchase with his girlfriend Savannah...Who probably wasn’t even his girlfriend now! At one point it was considered one of the most important missions in the agency. Now it was all being invalidated due to one mistake. He was now just a failure. _

 

_ “And what mission is that?” _

 

_ “Uh.” Mr Block looked around his desk, his eyes landing on a can of mixed nuts. “Pistachio duty!” _

 

_ “Pistachio duty,sir?” Cavendish asked, confused and still a bit shaken up. _

 

_ “What the hell is a pistachio?” Dakota asked. _

 

_ “It’s a green nut with a split shell and it's extinct! You two are going to prevent them for going extinct. It’s fail proof...Unless you two  _ **_failures_ ** _ manage to prove me wrong...And that’s  _ **_not_ ** _ a challenge!” _

 

_ “Y..yes s..sir…” Cavendish choked out. _

 

_ “I’ll have your first mission tomorrow. If you two actually succeed, without blowing up our other moon, I’ll consider trusting you on other missions again! Now get out!” _

 

_ They left the office, getting more glares and sneers from other agents. Savannah and her partner Brick both stared them down as they passed by. _

 

_ “Can you imagine being  _ **_that_ ** _ much of a failure.” Savannah whispered. “I can’t believe I even thought I loved one of them once.” _

 

_ Dakota cringed. Yep. That answered the girlfriend question. _

 

_ “I don’t think anyone can.” Brick whispered back. “They’ll always be failures. Nothing will ever change that.” _

  
  
  



	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 I Still Remember The World From The Eyes Of A Child**

 

Mikey cried:

 

**_Stay with me! Don’t you dare die on me!_ **

 

_ “May I see your papers?” _

 

_ Martin pulled his two year old son and his daughter close when he head those words. Doofenshmirtz had sent the same kind of Norm Bots that patrolled the rest of the Tri State Area into the barricaded area of Danville, without any regard to the fact they didn’t have papers. _

 

_ “W..what?” A small voice squeaked out. _

 

_ Mikey recognized the boy as Mort Schaeffer, someone he played with sometimes. _

 

_ “Show me your papers.” The Norm Bot said. “Or be destroyed!” _

 

_ Mort took a step back, shaking heavily. _

 

_ “Daddy?” Sara whined. “W..what d..do we do?” _

 

_ “We can’t do anything.” Martin said, trying to keep his voice gentle to keep them calm. “Or we’d be in danger too.” _

 

_ Mikey couldn’t keep his eyes off the scene across the street. The Norm Bot edged closer with each step Mort took back, soon trapping him against the side of a building. _

 

_ “Sara, Milo, get inside.” _

 

_ “Y..yes daddy..” Sara went inside. _

 

_ “Milo!” _

 

_ Mikey kept staring, wide eyed. _

 

_ “Milo!” _

 

_ He didn’t move. _

 

_ “Milo now!” _

 

_ Martin groaned angrily before picking up Mikey to take him inside. Mikey could see clearly over his dad’s shoulder, the blow The Norm Bot gave to Mort’s head, before he fell on the ground and stopped moving _

 

_ Mikey started sobbing. _

 

_ “Milo. Milo what’s wrong?” Martin asked gently. _

 

_ “M..M..Mort…” Mikey whimpered out. _

 

_ “Oh no...he saw..because of The Curse.” Martin grumbled under his breath. He held Mikey closer “Shh it’s okay, it’s okay. Daddy’s here.” _

 

_ “I..I don’t want to die!” He cried. _

 

_ Martin tightened his grip. “You won’t. Not as long as I’m here.” _

 

_ Mikey cried more, but he hugged onto his dad tighter, trying to get as much comfort as he could. _


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 An Ominous Landscape of Never Ending Calamity**

 

Milo just wore her usual smile on her face like a mask:

 

**_It’s okay...b..brother._ **

 

_ Five year old Milo sat in the other room, spinning the wheels on his toy fire engine with his finger. He pressed a button on the top which triggered the lights and sirens and to go off. He giggled in glee and rolled the truck on the ground.  _

 

_ It rolled into the kitchen and Milo followed after it. His babysitter Veronica was at the stove, making grilled cheese. _

 

**_Oooh, what if I scare her?_ ** _ Milo giggled to himself as he snuck up behind her. Veronica put the spatula under the grilled cheese to flip it. _

 

_ “Boo!” Milo yelled, extending his arms above his head to make himself look scarier. _

 

_ Veronica screamed and hit her hand against the pan. She recoiled in pain stepped back, onto the fire engine. As it started to roll, she crashed to the ground. _

 

_ “V..Veronica!” Milo cried. _

 

_ “M..Milo...get the ph..phone…” Veronica groaned. _

 

_ Milo cried in fear, unable to move. _

 

_ “M..Milo please!” Veronica begged, starting to cry herself.  _

 

_ Milo, breathing heavily, ran to the other room to grab the phone. He grabbed the corded phone and tried to pull it over to the kitchen. He only made it a few inches until the cord snapped and he fell on his face. _

 

_ “M..Milo! P..please hurry!” Veronica cried from the other room. _

 

_ This time Milo wireless phone off the table. He ran back and handed it to her. _

 

_ She tried to dial 9..1..1, but groaned when nothing happened. “The ph..phones d..dead…” _

 

_ Milo started sobbing. _

 

_ “No, no it’s okay. It’s okay...little bro. I’ll be all right, I pr..promise.”  _

 

_ Milo laid beside her and hugged her close, crying heavily into her side.  _

 

_ On the stove the grilled cheese started to burn and the smoke rose. All twenty fire detectors beeped unevenly. Milo whined as he held his ears tightly. He zoned out, only coming to when he was pulled tightly into someone’s arms. _

 

_ “Milo!” _

 

_ “M..M..Mommy!” Milo sniffled, hugging her neck tightly. _

 

_ “Shh it’s okay baby, it’s okay…” _

 

_ “V..Veronica…” Milo whimpered. _

 

_ “She’ll be okay.” Brigette soothed as she stroked small circles on his back. _

 

_ “Sh..she got h..hurt.” Milo whined. _

 

_ “She’ll be okay.” She said, bouncing him slightly. _

 

_ Milo sniffled. “P..promise?” _

 

_ “I promise sweetie.” _

 

_ Milo hugged closer, not sure if he fully believed his mom or not. _

  
  
  


_ That night Martin was sitting in one of the big, fluffy chairs, reading a magazine. He saw someone out of his peripheral vision and looked up. “Oh, Milo. What are you still doing up?” _

 

_ Milo sniffled and rubbed his tired eyes before going over to his dad. Martin pulled him into his lap and hugged him close.  _

 

_ “I..I had a b..b..bad d..dream.” Milo said into his chest. _

 

_ “Oh.” Martin frowned. “Was it about today?” _

 

_ Milo nodded and sniffled loudly. “I h..hurt h..her daddy...I’m a b..bad g..guy.” _

 

_ “No.” Martin said, bluntly. _

 

_ “I..I hate M..Murphy’s L..Law! I w..wish I didn’t h..have it!” _

 

_ “No.” He pulled Milo closer to his chest. “You’re not a bad guy Milo.” _

 

_ “Y..yes I am..I..I hurt Veronica…” _

 

_ “It’s not your fault.” Martin reassured. _

 

_ “B..but..but..” _

 

_ Martin shushed him. “Murphy’s Law is never your fault. It just..happens.” _

 

_ “B..but Veronica got hurt…She’s going to h..hate me n..now!” _

 

_ “I’m sure she won’t.” Martin said, pulling him closer. “She understands Murphy’s Law and how unpredictable it is.” _

 

_ “P..promise?” Milo asked. _

 

_ Martin was about to respond, but paused. It was true that Murphy’s Law was strong but Veronica was stronger, however that didn’t mean she couldn’t become scared of it. Martin’s ex datemates were proof enough of that already. Instead he exhaled slightly. “Everything will be all right Milo...That I can promise…” _

 

_ Milo was already nodding off to sleep. Martin cradled him for a while before returning him to his bed. Diogee was already curled up at the foot of it, sleeping. Martin tucked Milo in and kissed his forehead before leaving. _

 

**_It will be all right Milo, it will be all right….I hope…._ **

  
  
  


_ The Murphy’s were in a desperate need for a babysitter. No one in Danville, and even possibly the whole Tri-State Area were willing to babysit Milo. Due to this Brigette and Martin decided to take turns taking Milo to work with them. _

 

_ Many of her co workers were parents themselves without babysitters, and had dedicated an old meeting room for a daycare space. Large blue chairs were placed around a circular table, littered with toys, such as blocks, dolls, and coloring books. _

 

_ While all the other children played excitedly and loudly, Milo sat in the corner, hugging his knees. When his mom came in to check on him during her lunch break, she frowned and went over to him.  _

 

_ She crouched down to his level and put her arm around him gently. “Milo, sweetie, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you playing with the others?” _

 

_ “I don’t wanna hurt them.” Milo sniffled, trying to hide his face in his arms. _

 

_ Brigette frowned more. “You won’t hurt anyone, dear.” _

 

_ “But what if I do!?” Milo whined. “What if someone else gets hurt like Veronica!?” _

 

_ “Sweetie…” _

 

_ “You and daddy keep telling me it’s okay to have Murphy’s Law, but what if it isn’t!?” Milo whined.  _

 

_ Brigette pulled him into her lap and hugged him. “Milo…” _

 

_ He pushed away. “N..no!” Then he began to cry. “I..I’m a b..bad guy..” _

 

_ Brigette frowned even deeper. “Do you want to stay with me today hun?” _

 

_ Milo sniffled and nodded. Brigette carried him to her office and let him sit in her lap as she set up a small model of her current project. _

 

_ Milo was doodling on a piece of white loose leaf paper with crayons as she worked. While drawing a large circle, Milo’s arm hit one of the building models, causing a domino effect, and making them all fall into a pile. _

 

_ Brigette sighed as she started picking up the pieces. Milo started to cry. “I..I’m s..s..sorry m..m..mommy!” _

 

_ “No, no, sweetie it’s okay! It was an accident, you didn’t mean it.” Brigette soothed. _

 

_ “I hate Murphy’s Law..I hate it…” He mumbled. _

 

_ “Milo it’s okay.” _

 

_ He got out of her lap and ran out of the room. _

 

_ “Milo! Milo, get back here! Milo!” _

 

_ Milo found an empty office and hid in there. He sat in the corner and cried loudly into his hands.  _ **_I hate Murphy’s Law! It hurt Veronica and I messed up mommy’s work! It’s not good for anything!_ **

 

_ “Milo!” _

 

_ He tensed up as the sound of his mother’s voice drew closer. He pressed his back against the wall and stayed as still as possible. Murphy’s Law took effect as a cup of pencils fell off a desk, startling Milo. He let out a whine and flinched, hitting his heel loudly against the wall. _

 

_ “Milo?” Brigette stopped right outside the door. Milo shivered harshly as she entered and flipped the lights on. “There you are!” She ran over and picked him up. “Don’t run off like that, I was worried!” _

 

_ “I..I..I’m s..s..sorry m..m..mommy….” He sniffled. _

 

_ “Do you want me to call your dad and see if he can take you home?” _

 

_ “Y..yes mommy…” _

 

_ “Okay.” She took him back to her office and sat him down on one of the chairs. She dialed the landline phone at her desk and called Martin. _

 

_ “Hello?” _

 

_ “Hey, sweetie…” Brigette bit her lip anxiously. _

 

_ “Oh, hey honey!” Martin said, his voice now full of excitement. “Did you need something or are you on lunch break?” _

 

_ “I need something. Milo’s still upset, and I was wondering if you could go home early today. I would, but I have a lot I need to get done here that I can’t do at home.” _

 

_ “I..Yeah I’ll be right there sweetie. Just keep Milo calm in the meantime.” _

 

_ “All right dear.” Brigette hung up and went back over to her son. She picked him up and held him close. “I love you Milo.” _

 

_ “I..I l..love y..you t..too m..mommy…” _

 

_ They went outside to wait for Martin. About half an hour later Martin pulled up. The car let out a rough huff sound as it idled. _

 

_ “Thank you for coming.” Brigette sighed in relief, handing Milo over to him. _

 

_ “No problem.” He looked at Milo. “Hey buddy, how are you feeling?” _

 

_ “Sad..” Milo whined. _

 

_ Martin frowned. “Why?” _

 

_ “I’m a bad guy!” He cried. _

 

_ Martin was about to reassure him once again that he wasn’t a bad guy and that Murphy’s Law wasn’t his fault, but he knew it would be hopeless at this point. “You want to take a nap?” _

 

_ “Y..yes daddy…” Milo sniffled.  _

 

_ Martin put Milo in his carseat and buckled him in. On the way home his pager started beeping loudly. Milo covered his ears. Martin pulled over to the side of the road and checked his pager. “Ugh! Sorry Milo, I have to head back to work.” _

 

_ “Are you still taking me home?” Milo asked anxiously. _

 

_ Martin frowned. “Sorry Milo, I can’t leave you home alone.” _

 

_ “But I don’t want to hurt anyone else!” _

 

_ “You won’t.” Martin said gently. He turned the car around and headed back to work. He plumped a hard hat on Milo’s head and went to his boss’ office. “Y..yes sir” _

 

_ “I’m sorry to call you back on such short notice, but we have a few more things that need to be safety tested as soon as possible.” He paused. “Aw, this must be Milo. Hi little guy!” He waved to him.  _

 

_ Milo whined nervously and hid his face in his dad’s chest. _

 

_ “He’s having a rough time right now.” Martin explained. “We had a little incident with Murphy’s Law and he’s anxious about it now.” _

 

_ “Agan I’m really sorry I had to call you back but.....” _

 

_ “It’s all right. What do you need me to test?” _

 

_ Martin’s boss handed him a list and he went off. Milo clung tightly to him. “Daddy?” _

 

_ “Yes?” _

 

_ “Does your boss think you’re a bad guy?” _

 

_ “N..no of course not.” _

 

_ “He’s okay with Murphy’s Law?” _

 

_ “Mhm. It helps at work.” _

 

_ Milo blinked. “It does?” _

 

_ “Yep. When Murphy’s Law affects something I tell my boss and he improves it. Murphy’s Law tests everything to its limits. Then we can make it safer because, Anything that can go wrong….” _

 

_ “....Will go wrong.” Milo finished, managing to smile a bit. _

 

_ “And since you’re here you can help me.” Martin said. _

 

_ Milo flapped his arms in excitement. “Yeah!” _

 

_ “Come on let's go!” _

 

_ Milo and his dad went around, testing everything on the list with a double dose of Extremely Hereditary Murphy’s Law, both not worrying at all. Both being happy. _

  
  
  
  


_ Milo sat on the couch, nervously stimming by kicking his feet back and forth. A few weeks had passed and Veronica was well enough to continue babysitting. Milo’s stomach churned, anxious to see her again.  _

 

**_I hurt her! She’s going to hate me or..or be scared of me!_ **

 

_ To Milo being scared of was worse than being hated. Hate could stem from anything, fear would stem from Murphy’s Law, a force he could not control, and that terrified him.  _

 

_ He remembered his dad had mentioned he was afraid his mom would break up with him several times when they were dating, three times when they were engaged, two times when they were married, and one time when she was pregnant with Sara. He was worried Murphy’s Law would scare her off at anytime regardless of how much she reassured him it was okay and said how much she loved him, and now Milo knew that same fear. _

 

_ At the sound of a knock on the door, Milo whimpered and brought his legs onto the couch as he curled into a nervous ball and hid his face in his knees. _

 

_ “Hello Veronica, how are you feeling?” Martin asked gently. _

 

_ “Hi Mr Murphy. I’m doing good.” Milo heard from the doorway. “Hey, where’s Milo?” _

 

_ “I’m not here!” Milo shout cried from the other room. “You can go home where you’ll be safe from Murphy’s Law!” _

 

_ There was dead silence for a moment. A few moments later Milo felt a hand gently stroke his back. He whimpered and recoiled.  _

 

_ He sniffled as he looked up to see who it was, with watery eyes. “V..Veronica?” _

 

_ “Hey Milo.” She said gently, pulling him into a hug. “It’s okay..it’s okay.” _

 

_ “B..but..I..I hurt you!” Milo sobbed. _

 

_ “It was an accident.” Veronica said, pulling him closer. “Murphy’s Law is never your fault. It’s okay.” _

 

_ Milo sniffled. “Y..you’re not mad? You don’t hate me? You’re not scared of me?” _

 

_ Veronica shook her head. “Not at all.” _

 

_ Milo sniffled.  _

 

_ “I..I’m sorry.” _

 

_ “No need to apologize,...little bro.” Veronica smiled. _

 

_ Milo smiled too and returned the hug, relaxing into her grip. Maybe his dad was right. Maybe it wasn't his fault.  Maybe Murphy’s Law wasn’t tragedy like he thought it was.  _

 

_ But all he knew for sure in that moment was that Veronica had forgiven him, and nothing could have made him happier. _

  
  



	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 Cat-harsis**

 

Milo noticed no one else was trying to grin and bear through their triggers and bad memories to keep watching like she did. “Maybe we should stop…” She pressed stop on the VCR and ejected the tape. “Are you guys okay?” 

 

“I’ve....” Cavendish hesitated, clenching his shaking fists harder. “...I’ve been better Murphy…”

 

“I .. I .. I …” Dakota whimpered out. “..... N .. n .. no …”

 

Mikey cried more and latched onto the closest person to him. Cavendish. After realizing who it was he sheepishly pulled back and lunged onto Dakota instead. “D..d..daddy…”

 

Dakota pulled Mikey into his lap and hugged him close. He stroked his back gently. “I’m here, I’m here.”

 

Mikey latched onto him, breathing heavily. “I’m here …”

 

Milo scooted between the three of them on the couch. She gently stroke Cavendish’s arm. “Th .. thank you M .. Murphy.”

 

Milo smiled gently. “No problem. That’s what friends are for, right?”

 

_ Friends…  _ Cavendish was unsure what to feel about that word. He hadn’t really ever understood what the word meant or if he ever really had any. “R..right...Is it all right if I escort you home? It would make me feel better.”

 

“Okay.” Milo said, smiling gently in reassurance. She turned to Dakota. “Will you two be okay?”

 

“Y..yeah kid…”  Dakota said, pulling Mikey closer to his chest. “I..it’s f..f..fine…”

 

Milo gently gripped Cavendish’s hand as they left the office complex. “Are you okay Cavendish…”

 

“Yes Murphy, I’m fine.” Cavendish said. “I just had some bad memories come back…”

 

“I’m sorry.” Milo said.

 

“It’s not your fault Murphy.” Cavendish said. “You had no idea it would trigger me.”

 

He tightened his grip on Milo’s hand. 

  
  
  


Brick and Savannah sat in their time vehicle, parked behind a group of shrubbery. 

 

“Do you see anything?” Brick asked.

 

“No, not yet.” Savannah sighed, gripping the wheel tightly. “Haven’t seen any sign of any of them since the fair.”

 

“You know, Mr Block isn’t going to be happy we’re skipping our mission for this.” Brick said.

 

“Yes, I know.” Savannah sighed. “But I’m sure he’ll forgive us when he finds out why.”

 

“I guess you’re right.” Brick said.

 

“I see something.” Savannah said. She started the time vehicle and drove through the shrubbery, almost plowing down Milo and Cavendish. 

 

……

 

Cavendish pulled Milo out of the way quickly, and held her protectively. When Brick and Savannah exited the time vehicle Cavendish didn’t hesitate going off on them. “What the hell were you thinking!? You could have hit us!”

 

Brick and Savannah looked at him with no remorse. Savannah’s glare was extra harsh. “We weren’t even close Cavendish...You’re lucky you had the same reflexes as  _ Gabriel _ or that Murphy kid would have been a goner...”

 

He gripped Milo tighter. “Wh..what do you w..want?” He asked through his teeth.

 

“Is that the Murphy kid or is that the Murphy kid’s ‘cousin’?” Brick demanded.

 

“It’s Murphy. Her cousin’s at home.”

 

Savannah squinted. “We know you’re up to something Cavendish…”

 

“I’m really not.”

 

“Then why aren’t you cleaning medieval outhouses?” Brick asked.

 

“Why aren’t you protecting pistachios?”

 

“...You better be careful…” Savannah said. She and Brick headed back to the time vehicle and went off.

 

“Are you all right?” Cavendish asked.

 

“Yeah I’m fine.” Milo said. “Are you?”

 

“Yes I’m fine... Let's just get you home.”

 

…….

 

Cavendish sighed in exhaustion when he got back to the office.  _ Brick and Savannah need to mind their own business...I’m afraid they’re catching on…. _

 

He grabbed his key from his pocket and stumbled to get it in the lock. A small almost crying like sound startled him, making him drop his keys. He looked over to see a small wicker basket with a small shape swaddled in a white blanket.

 

_ Really? People actually do this? _

 

Cavendish sighed and leaned down the the basket. “I’m sorry I can’t take care of you. If anything you’re a ward of the state.”

 

“Meow.” A small paw reached out and touched Cavendish’s cheek. 

 

He undid the blanket slightly. Inside was a small kitten who looked up with wide, curious, green eyes, and let out a small meow in greeting. Her fur was a tannish orange, expect around her face which was a light brown, and her legs and paws which were dark brown. 

 

“Oh, hello there.” He said gently. “

 

The kitten purred and nuzzled against his hand. “I think I’ve seen one of you quite recently. Oh yes! The diner! Now...What did Dakota say you were called again? A kitty, right? I might as well look it up.” He pulled out one of his pocket edition guides:  **Animals Of The Past To Know So You Don’t Look Super Dumb In The Past Volume 4: Domestic Pets Part 1.**

 

He started flipping through. “Lets see...Hmm...Oh yes here it is! Felis catus! Or just simply, a cat. And by your size you appear to be a baby. Lets see...Oh yes, a kitten. Dakota did use that word before, I should have known.”

 

The kitten meowed and started grooming herself. “You’re such a fascinating creature.” He pet her and she purred deeper. He picked her up. “I must show Dakota! He loves things like you.”

 

He opened the door. “Dakota, come here!”

 

Dakota was still stroking a whimpering Mikey’s back. “Not now, I’m kinda busy.”

 

“But..”

 

“If you want something, you come over here.” Dakota said.

 

Cavendish came over, still swaddling the kitten. “I thought you’d like this.” 

 

Dakota smiled widely. “Oh, hey it’s a cat!”

 

Cavendish handed her to him. “It’s nice to know you you’ve been studying up on our work guides.”

 

“Huh? No, I just know what a cat is.” Dakota said, scratching the kitten under her chin.

 

“Y..you don’t kn..know w..what a c..cat is?” Mikey asked, still a bit shaky.

 

“All animals have gone extinct in the future.” Cavendish explained.

 

“O..oh.”

 

“We live off synthetic meat with added nutrients.” Dakota added. 

 

“O..oh.” Mikey said. “W..we lived on r..rations and road kill….”

 

Cavendish and Dakota looked at each other, horrified. 

 

“Don’t worry about that now kid.” Dakota said, pulling Mikey close. “We’ll keep you well fed.”

 

“Thanks dad.” Mikey snuggled closer.

 

“I told you not to call Dakota th..” Cavendish was cut short when he noticed the kitten had crawled into his lap. He smiled and pet her. She closed her eyes and bored loudly as she pressed her head against his palm. “I can see why you like animals so much Dakota. They’re such fascinating creatures.”

 

“That’s why I got my degree in Animal History.”

 

“Can we keep her?” Mikey asked, petting her.

 

Cavendish looked at the kitten who had now settled in Mikey’s lap. “Well, I did find her on our doorstep, so I suppose we can.”

 

Mikey flapped his arms and pet the kitten more. 

 

“What should we call her, kid?” Dakota asked.

 

“Hmm..” He looked at her. “How about...Karen?”

 

“Karen the cat. I like it, it’s kind of like alliteration, but different enough that it’s not really.” Dakota said.

 

Karen mewed and nuzzled against Mikey’s cheek. He giggled and held her close.

 

Cavendish smiled at Mikey and his new friend.  _ I’d hate to seperate them….I hope that poor cat will be all right in a dimension ruled by a dictator…. _


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 Same Blood  Different Person**

 

The next day Milo came back with a dvd boxset in her arms. “Hey guys! I brought The Doctor Zone Files boxset with me!”

 

“Doctor Zone?” Mikey asked curiously.

 

Milo nodded excitedly. “It’s the best show ever!”

 

“Cool!” Mikey smiled. Karen crawled into his lap and curled up.

 

“Aw! You got a cat?” Milo asked.

 

“Yeah we got her yesterday. Her name’s Karen.”

 

“She’s so cute! Can I pet her?” Milo asked.

 

“Sure!”

 

Milo sat beside Mikey in the couch and started petting. Karen meowed in greeting and began to purr loudly.

 

“She’s so cute!” Milo said. “Usually cats don’t like me. I got a few scratches from some.”

 

“O..oh..m..me too… with all animals…” Mikey said bashfully. “Except for Diogee…He was always loyal...He’d never hurt me like everyone else tried to…”

 

Milo frowned deeply before putting her arm around Mikey. “No one’s going to hurt you here, I promise.”

 

“E..even Elliot?”

 

“Elliot won’t hurt you.” Milo reassured.

 

“O..okay…” Mikey idly traced the scar on his cheek.

 

Milo frowned more. “Did yours..did yours do that to you?”

 

Mikey sniffled and nodded.

 

Milo hugged him. “It’s okay...I’m here for you.”

 

“But you won’t be there when I go back!” Mikey whined. 

 

Milo tightened her grip. “I’ll be here for you as long as I can.”

 

“Th..thank you..” Mikey sniffled into her.

 

They stayed their silently for a moment before Milo noticed something. “Hey, where’s Cavendish and Dakota?”

 

“Huh? Oh, they went to get food.” Mikey said. 

 

“Okay.”  Milo said. They snuggled on the couch until Cavendish and Dakota returned. 

 

“Hey kid!” Dakota said. “Good thing we got an extra burger for you. We didn’t know if you were coming today or not.”

 

“I mean we’re going to continue The Doctor Zone Files right?”

 

“Yeah! It’s great!” Dakota said.

 

“It’s...all right…” Cavendish said. 

 

“All right?” Dakota asked in shock. “ _ You  _ were the inspiration for Doctor Zone! How do you only think it’s  _ all right! _ ”

 

“And you were the inspiration for Time Ape, what’s your point?” Cavendish asked, crossing his arms.

 

“We inspired pop culture icons Cavendish!” Dakota continued. “Why don’t you think that’s awesome!?”

 

“I’m just not into the show that much.” Cavendish said. “I don’t see the problem.”

 

“But..but..it’s amazing!”

 

“Dakota, it’s okay.” Milo said. She looked at Cavendish. “You don’t have to watch it with us if you don’t want to.”

 

“Thank you, Murphy.” Cavendish said. “I have to continue working on the orb anyway. I’ve been neglecting to do so.”

 

Mikey hugged his knees and avoided eye contact. Milo stroked his back. 

 

Cavendish took his food and went over to his desk, Karen following close behind him. He set his food on the side of the table and the orb in the middle. Karen sat by his feet, idly moving her tail back and forth while cocking her head from side to side. After a while she arched her back, shook her rear end a little, and jumped into Cavendish’s lap. 

 

“Oh, hello there Karen.” He gave her a quick pet on the head before continuing his work. A small string fell down and hung off the edge of the table. 

 

Cavendish to this day still had no idea if it was because of Murphy’s Law or simple cat instinct, but Karen grabbed the string in her mouth and pulled. The orb fell to the ground with a loud crash. It sparked widely, leaving Cavendish in a panic. “Ugh! I can’t touch it until the electricity dies down and even then I’ll have to start over!” He glared at Karen. “I hope you’re proud of yourself missy.”

 

Karen just let out a small meow in reply before leaping out of his lap and going over to the others.

 

Cavendish sighed as he walked over to the couch and sat down. “I guess I will being joining you. The orb isn’t stable enough to continue repairing.”

 

He looked at the screen. “So...What exactly is going on in this story?”

 

“Doctor Zone and Time Ape ended up in an alternate dimension where you find who your soulmate is by the first word they ever said to you being tattooed on your arm.” Milo explained. 

 

“Good thing we didn’t work out, ay Cav?” Dakota laughed, elbowing him in the arm slightly. “My tattoo being  **Yes** would make finding you pretty hard.”

 

“I suppose likewise for what my tattoo would be.” Cavendish rolled his eyes slightly.  _ Although, I don’t quite remember what those words were…. _

 

“I think it’s cute.” Mikey said.

 

“Yeah! I wonder what mine would say!” Milo said excitedly.

 

Mikey started tracing his own arm.  _ What would mine say?  _ **_Is that me?_ **

 

Mikey shook his head quickly.  _ N..no. I don’t like Milo like that…  _ He looked over Milo who was reinvested in The Doctor Zone Files.  _ Do I? _

  
  
  



	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 Beating Hearts**

 

Milo paused in the doorway just as she was about to leave. “Oh, I almost forgot!” She fished a piece of paper out of her backpack pocket and gave it to Mikey.

 

“Th..thank you.” He shivered slightly as his fingers touched hers.

 

He unfolded it:

 

**Maybe when you’re ungrounded we can hangout to make up for it?**

 

**-Zack**

 

_ Will I ever be off house arrest? I doubt it. Cavendish is really strict. _

 

Despite his best judgment he wrote back:

 

**Sure! I’d love that!**

 

**-Milo**

 

He panicked and scribbled it out before replacing it with  **Mikey.**

 

_ Why did I do that again!? Ugh! I thought I had this now! _

 

He folded up the paper and gave it to Milo. “Here..here you go..”

 

“Thanks, I’ll make sure Zack gets it.” She smiled warmly.

 

Mikey liked her smile, it made him smile too. He headed back inside, sat in the bed, and pulled out the MP3 player. He plopped the earbuds in and  turned it to  _ Chop Away At My Heart  _ before laying on his back, shutting his eyes, and taking in the lyrics.

 

He sung with them under his breath. “I know you’re pining, but every cloud has got a silver lining.The leaves are parting now the sun is shining, and you're in my arms so the planets are aligning. My heart is strong, like a tree….”

 

He paused the song.  _ I wish I was strong, but I’m not...I’m just a mess...an anxious, interdimensional, unstable, mess…. _

 

Mikey pressed play.  **And you belong, baby you belong to me**   
  


Pause.

 

_ Milo wouldn’t like me like that. I’m just her...aren’t I? _

 

Play

 

**Without you, i'm tied to the ground. And if I fall, do I even make a sound?** **  
  
**

 

Pause

 

_ But she makes me feel like my own person. Does she know how I feel? _

 

Play

 

**Chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart! I can feel it falling. Timber! And I will never part** **  
  
**

Pause

 

_ She said she’d always be there for me...Until I have to go back. She cares so much... _

 

Play

 

**I know you, you've been there from the start**

 

Pause

 

_ She has! I met her my first day and she was nothing but nice to me! But then again so was Dakota, and Melissa...and Zack... _

 

Play

 

**So baby chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart**

 

He closed his eyes and fell asleep as a chorus of  _ Na na na na na nas  _ echoed through his ears.

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
